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Text Messaging Campaign to Benefit Hungry Kids
Text Messaging Campaign to Benefit Hungry Kids
Published 01-12-09
Submitted by Share Our Strength
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Operation No Kid Hungry, a campaign to raise funds to help end childhood hunger and encourage Americans to hold food drives, begins today. Between now and March 1, subscribers of all major wireless carriers can donate $5 to Share Our Strength by text messaging "SHARE" to 20222. AT&T will match donations up to $100,000. Share Our Strength is the leading national organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.
"We've seen a dramatic jump in the need for food assistance in the last six months," said Bill Shore, founder and executive director of Share Our Strength. "Some food pantries we fund had a 40- to 50-percent increase in demand -- much of it from working families and people seeking help for the first time."
President-elect Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015 during his presidential campaign. He has also called for a national day of service on January 19, Martin Luther King Day. In response, Share Our Strength is asking people to send a text donation and hold food drives to help feed those in need. Food pantries and food banks especially need foods rich in protein, such as peanut butter and canned tuna, chicken, and salmon. Visit http://www.Strength.org to find a food bank and a list of the most-needed nutritious foods.
AT&T, Share Our Strength's partner in this program, will launch a nationwide employee food drive in 32 cities. The AT&T food drive kicks off today in six cities -- Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Hartford, Conn.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. The remaining 26 cities will launch their food drives on January 19.
"As a proud participating sponsor of this Share Our Strength program, we are pleased to offer AT&T's expansive resources -- our vast network of wireless subscribers, 300,000 employees and dedicated AT&T Pioneer volunteers -- as part of a greater effort toward eliminating childhood hunger," said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Every text counts."
All funds raised will support Share Our Strength's national work to end childhood hunger, which finds ways to feed the hungry in our communities, funds the most effective anti-hunger organizations in each state, and makes the most of state, federal, and local resources. In the United States, more than 12 million children are at risk of hunger. This national text-donation campaign is made possible through the Mobile Giving Foundation.
About Share Our Strength
Share Our Strength is a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. We weave together a net of community groups, activists and food programs to catch children at risk of hunger, and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. We work with the culinary industry to create engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation(R), Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale(R), Share Our Strength's A Tasteful Pursuit(R), Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out(R), and Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline(R). For more information, please visit http://Strength.org.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation's fastest 3G network and the best global wireless coverage of any carrier, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.
