[Fire roasted tomato and bleu cheese soup with a bacon apple and caramelized onion grilled cheese panini]

Candi Wilvang participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge with her family of three – Mom, Dad and ten year old son (with some help from her 20 year old son). Read about their experience below.

The challenge was an awesome experience for our family to take. I am the mother of two son’s ages 20 and 10. My oldest son Shattuck lives in his own apartment so we took…

Thanks to the extensive advocacy of United Way Worldwide, local United Ways and other Emergency Food and Shelter program partners throughout the country, Congress voted to approve $200 million for fiscal year 2010 for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP).  The funding was included in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, passed by the House and approved by the Senate on October 21, 2009.   President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law sometime soon.

Though  this is the same level of funding as last…

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I am a sucker for infographics and boy does GOOD Magazine produce solid infographics.  They consistently take data and make it look awesome.

They recently graphed out the number of people who are using food stamps with interesting results.

(Aside: “Food Stamps” is a colloquialism. Nationally, the program is called SNAP and in Washington it’s known as Basic Food.  For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be calling it Food Stamps)

Why More People Are Signing Up…

The data shows that people have been signing up for…

As I pretty much just mentioned, lots of people are getting hit by the weak economy.  Whether it’s losing their jobs, having their hours cut, or finding lower paying jobs, many of these people are not making enough to support themselves.  What’s worse, many don’t know where to turn for help.

One of the most useful programs available to low-income families and individuals is the food stamp program (it’s called “Basic Food” in Washington and “SNAP” in the federal level).

While it’s…