49 million Americans struggle to put food on their tables. In fact, one in six people in America face hunger. The facts are there and something needs to be done. Although volunteering at a soup kitchen may be the first thing that comes to your mind (and is a great thing to do!), there are other options to help feed the hungry.
Waste Time for a Cause
There are lots of trivia sites that require just a click of a button to send donations to people in need. Freerice.com is a vocabulary game and for every correct answer you give, WFP will donate 10 grains of rice. Another site that just requires the click of a button is thehungersite.com. Click the button at the top of the site daily to bring in donations for the cause.
Support Companies Supporting Hunger
It's important to support the companies that are supporting others, such as Walmart, Cisco, Kelloggs, Darden restaurants, Ruby Tuesday, Chicken of the Sea and Panera Bread.
Walmart started the Fighting Hunger Together Foundation that has already raised $260 million in cash and 571 million pounds of food. Panera Bread donates their unsold bread and baked goods to local hunger relief agencies at the end of each day. They also collect donations and give them to local nonprofits that are partners with Feeding America. They are all doing their part in trying to reducing world hunger. Supporting them helps support the cause.
Reduce Your Food Waste
Americans waste about 100 billion pounds of food annually, which is approximately 64 billion meals. Remember that your eyes are often bigger than your stomach. You can always help yourself to seconds if you're still hungry. So spend less money on your own groceries (if you know you aren't going to eat them all) and donate it instead.
Donate
Donate money! Every penny counts. Here are a list of some of the largest groups and their links: Oxfam America, U.N. World Food Program, and Feeding America.
It's understandable if you live a busy life that doesn't allow you a couple of hours to volunteer at a soup kitchen — but don't give up there. As I've just showed, there are numerous ways to help out a cause that you believe in. Spread the word and end the hunger!