Feeding America®, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, has launched new public service announcements (PSAs) designed to raise awareness about hunger in the United States. The PSAs featuring actress and activist Connie Britton, who volunteered her time and talent, call upon people to help families facing hunger in America by supporting the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks.
The COVID-19 pandemic created an economic crisis that upended many people’s lives. Feeding America estimates that at least 60 million people turned to charitable food assistance in the United States last year. A household that is food insecure has limited or uncertain access to enough food to support a healthy life. When people face hunger, they often struggle to meet other basic needs as well — such as housing, employment and healthcare.
“We believe that no one should have to worry about where their next meal will come from no matter where they live across the country,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “These PSAs bring to light stories of our neighbors—people we see on a daily basis—who we may not know are food insecure.”
The new PSAs feature handwritten letters inspired by real experiences of people served by the Feeding America network to illustrate the tough decisions that food-insecure people have to make, including having to pay bills before buying food and skipping meals so their children can eat. The 200 food banks in the Feeding America network helped provide over 6 billion meals to people in need in 2020.
“We all can play a part in ensuring that everyone in this country has enough to eat. We are profoundly grateful to Ms. Britton for using her voice to raise awareness and inspire action to help achieve our vision of an America where no one goes hungry,” said Babineaux-Fontenot.
“Feeding America is doing some of the most critical work to end hunger in the United States,” said Connie Britton. “So I was honored to read and share some of the real-life struggles that our neighbors in need face every day, especially as a result of the pandemic, and to shed more light on this important mission.”
The new PSA campaign was created by Sunshine Sachs, and its release comes just before the holiday season, a crucial time of year for people to be able to share meals with friends and family. The PSAs encourage audiences to visit www.feedingamerica.org where they can take action to support people facing hunger.
