Hunger is a problem that no countries are immune to.
It can be a tough battle to win, but Carroll University is doing its part to help in this effort.
Since the beginning of April, Carroll has been trying to collect 50,000 meals in its second annual National Day of Service food drive.
This is after the food drive collected 25,386 meals in 2011, clearly surpassing their 10,000-meal goal.
However, to reach its 50,000-meal goal, it will need the community to step up, because as of Thursday, Heidi Miller, assistant director of alumni relations, said only about 10,000 meals have been collected.
The university is encouraging community members to drop off meals (one meal equals 1.3 pounds of non-perishable food) at any of the drop-off locations around the area and state.
The locations that have drop-off bins are:
c Au Bon Pain, 210 N. Grand Ave., Waukesha; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
c The Boldt Company, N21W23340 Ridgeview Parkway, Waukesha; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
c Carroll University Center for Graduate Studies, 2140 Davidson Road, Waukesha; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
c Carroll University Campus Center, 101 N. East Ave., Waukesha, daily 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through April 20 and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 21
c Delzer Lithograph, 510 West Ave., Waukesha; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
c R&R Insurance, 1581 E. Racine Ave., Waukesha; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
c R C Insurance Services, Inc., 1320 Walnut Ridge Drive, Suite 200, Hartland; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
c Nuevo Mercado El Rey, 916 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive, Milwaukee; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday
c Sellars Absorbent Materials, Inc., 6565 N. 60th St., Milwaukee; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday
c Desert Aire Corporation, N120 W18485 Freistadt Road, Germantown, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Carroll is partnering with Target Corporation and Feeding America in this effort.
Other collection sites around the state are in Appleton, Green Bay, Madison and Manitowoc. Moreover, alumni leaders in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota are leading local efforts there.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.carrollu.edu/alumni/food/default.asp
Hunger related stats according to the United Nations World Food Programme:
c Hunger is the world’s No. 1 health risk.
c One in seven people in the world will go to bed hungry.
c One out of four children in developing countries are underweight.
c 925 million people do not have enough to eat and 98 percent of them live in developing countries.
c Undernutrition contributes to five million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
Statistics from Feeding America:
In 2010, 4.8 percent of all U.S. households (5.6 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.
In 2010, 59.2 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major Federal food assistance programs – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Among members of Feeding America, 74 percent of pantries, 65 percent of kitchens, and 54 percent of shelters reported that there had been an increase since 2006 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.
Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006, when it was feeding 25 million Americans, including 9 million children each year. This means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.
More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.