For the past two weeks, giant forks have invaded the Seattle area–showing up at landmarks, restaurants, public parks, IKEA and even a Sounders soccer match.

Teams of enthusiastic people stood on overpasses waving the oversized forks and holding signs that simply read, “whythefork.org.”

And a @whythefork account on Twitter started posting tweets on everything from the history to cutlery to videos of fork lift stunts gone wrong.

What was this all about?

As KOMO News revealed, the answer to “Why the fork?” is:…

We’ve wrapped up Hunger Action Week, five days dedicated to raising awareness about hunger in our community.

So now what?

It’s time to take action. There are many ways you can get involved, and we’re sure that you can come up some creative ideas too. Here’s what Mary Shaw, one of our staff members at United Way of King County, said she chose to do.

“I thought I could get involved by doing a virtual hunger awareness lunch. OK, I guess I am not

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I’ve gotten many questions from people about the $7 a day allotment for the Hunger Challenge and why a two-person household gets $12 and not $14, etc. etc.

I’m no expert on Washington’s Basic Food Program (what we call food stamps in this state), but Liz Jaquette at the nonprofit WithinReach is. So I gave Liz a call and got a brief, but illuminating, education on food stamps. Here’s what I learned.

$7 a day is the MAXIMUM benefit for a single…

As we head into the third day of Hunger Action Week the community is abuzz about the Hunger Challenge. Many people are questioning whether the Hunger Challenge is a gimmick, if it makes poverty look easy or if people taking the challenge are just whiners who can’t go a week without a latte. This type of conversation – the dozens of e-mails, blog posts, comments and tweets – is exactly what Hunger Action Week is all about.

KOMO’s Michael Harthorne posted a great story on the Rainier Valley Food Bank today called “Rainier Valley Food Bank doesn’t let size matter”. The agency is planning to significantly increase its storage capacity with funds raised by United Way of King County’s Hunger Action Week.

Click here to read the story.

During March 21-25, people across King County will be taking the Hunger Challenge as part of United Way’s Hunger Action Week. They will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner spending only $7 a day to get a sense of what people who rely on food stamps experience.

This challenge is an exercise of empathy—to live in someone else’s shoes for one week and learn how you can help fight hunger in our community.

Anyone who has ever lived on a tight budget knows…

In a guest Seattle Times editorial, United Way of King County CEO, Jon Fine, and Board Chair, Dan Fulton, “see a community brimming with creativity about how to make things better for those who are struggling” and call on people to resolve to do what they can to help their neighbors in need. Read the full editorial.

One year ago, everyone at United Way of King County breathed a big sigh of relief–and then erupted into cheers when we heard that our Climb for the Community team had successfully made it to the summit of Mount Rainier.

In July 2009, a group of community leaders went on the inaugural “Climb for the Community” to the top of Mount Rainier. The group included United Way of King County CEO Jon Fine, United Way Board Chair Molly Nordstrom, Seattle Seahawks CEO Tod…

At our annual Breakfast on June 2, United Way of King County President and CEO Jon Fine opened the event with a report on the progress United Way is making to relieve hunger, end homelessness and to support children and families.

Some highlights of his speech:

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