St. Louis Area Foodbank Needs Votes to Win $45,000 in Walmart Campaign
Facebook votes could help provide 180,000 meals in the bi-state region
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For nearly a month, St. Louis Area Foodbank staff, volunteers and supporters throughout the region have been diligently voting on Facebook to help the nonprofit win a $45,000 grant from Walmart’s "Fighting Hunger Together" initiative.
As we approach the final days of this month-long competition, the St. Louis Area Foodbank is in a tight race to bring home the win. While the Foodbank is still currently in the top 40 – grants will be awarded to the top 40 vote-getters – the margin between St. Louis and other cities is less than 200 votes as the writing of this release.
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Foodbank leaders are asking residents of the St. Louis area to take part in bringing home this opportunity for our region by voting every day via Facebook.
In addition to the competition among Feeding America food banks, the St. Louis Area Foodbank nominated three local partner agencies – TWIGS in Granite City, Ill., Loving Hearts Outreach in Washington, Mo., and Victory Dream Center in Carbondale, Ill. – to participate for a chance to win a $20,000 grant. The Foodbank is not competing directly with these three agencies, and we’re proud to say that all three are currently in the grant-winning top 60.
The public will decide which organization will receive the grants through a voting campaign at www.facebook.com/walmart that includes more than 300 different hunger relief organizations from across the country. The more votes a Feeding America food bank or partner agency gets, the better chance they have of winning the money. The funds won will be used to support local hunger relief efforts.
“We are grateful to the community for their outpouring of support throughout this voting campaign,” says Frank Finnegan, president and chief executive officer of the St. Louis Area Foodbank. “With just one last voting push from St. Louis area residents, we can bring home this grant for our community and provide 180,000 additional meals to families in need.”
The public can vote once a day for their favorite organizations through 11:59 pm ET on April 30 at www.facebook.com/walmart. Descriptions of the organizations are posted on the voting site along with a "vote" button. At the conclusion of the voting, top vote getters will split $3 million in funding from Walmart.
Children are often the most vulnerable to the effects of hunger. As the need continues to increase, funding for organizations that help feed hungry children is especially critical. According to the USDA, more than 16 million children in the United States struggle with hunger. Here in the bi-state region, 20 percent of children - an estimated 148,730 children - struggle with hunger, according to the 2010 Map the Meal Gap Study.
For more information and to vote for St. Louis Area Foodbank, please go to: http://apps.facebook.com/walmartlocal/?applet=hunger&organization=85
About St. Louis Area Foodbank
The St. Louis Area Foodbank began its service to the community in 1975. Today, we continue to be an organization that relies on the generosity of others to make a difference in the lives of those in need of food assistance. Since that time, we've grown to become the bi-state region’s largest nonprofit 501(c)(3) food distribution center dedicated to feeding those in need. Through our network of more than 500 partner agencies, we distributed 25 million pounds of food in FY2012. For more information, visit www.stlfoodbank.org.