Yumans could win $50,000 for food bank

Once again, the Yuma community has the opportunity to bring a $50,000 grant to the local area to help fight hunger.

Walmart will randomly award 40 “Golden Sparks,” or $50,000 grants, to various consumers who enter the Fighting Hunger Together Golden Spark promotion online. Winners may choose which community will receive funding to help expand local backpack programs that provide meals to food-insecure children during weekends.

According to a USDA report, over 50 million people won't know where their next meal is coming from amounting to one in six Americans. The report further stated that this fall the United States will be emerging from the worst drought in more than five decades which may limit food supplies and raise food prices.

“The USDA report is yet again proof that millions of Americans are facing the harsh reality of hunger this year and the issue is further compounded by a historic drought and the lingering effects of high unemployment rates,” said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Walmart Foundation. “Walmart is committed to fighting hunger in America every day. By engaging our partners and providing unique and creative opportunities for our customers and associates to join the fight against hunger, such as this campaign, we know we can make an even greater impact and help local communities through this critical time.”

To enter to win, participants can visit www.walmart.com/hunger or Walmart's Live Better Facebook app by Oct. 14.

The promotion is part of the Walmart's Fighting Hunger Together initiative to bring together customers, associates, Feeding America and food companies — ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods and Unilever — to provide meals nationwide.

In a nationwide survey, 65 percent of Feeding American Food Bank executive directors predicted a decrease in food supply and an increase in demand in upcoming years. Of those executive directors, more than half stated that their current food supply is “poor or below average.”

There is a concern that the drought will have an adverse effect on food banks that have to purchase food and on families who will have to stretch their already thin food budgets, said Matt Knott, interim president and CEO of Feeding America.

“This fall initiative, led by Walmart and some of the nation's leading food companies, comes at a very critical time for our food banks and the millions of Americans that rely on our resources to feed their families,” he said.