Montgomery County: Hunger Free Zone (PHOTOS)

Montgomery County Council President Craig Rice and Councilmember Nancy Navarro joined with representatives from the County’s faith community, leaders from local anti-hunger organizations, and Giant Food today to launch a campaign to make Montgomery County a “hunger-free” zone.

According to county officials, almost 70,000 county residents receive Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits – up over 150 percent since 2008.

Officials said nearly 36,000 children in the County live in “food insecure” households and more than one in three MCPS students – more than 51,000 children – qualify for Free and Reduced Meals – more than the total enrolled children in the DC public schools.

In addition, officials said nearly 9,000 of the county’s seniors live below the poverty line.

The “Hunger-Free” Zone effort includes:

* Collecting the most food ever to distribute to Montgomery’s hungry – starting with special events at two dozen Giant supermarkets throughout the County during October and November:

* Raising public awareness about hunger in Montgomery; and

* Improving coordination between public and private agencies working on the issue.

For more information: www.montgomeryserves.org/hunger.

About Sonya Burke

Sonya Burke is the Multimedia Manager at Montgomery Community Media (MCM). You can email story ideas at sburke@mymcmedia.org or reach her on Twitter @SonyaNBurke.

View all posts by Sonya Burke