September is Hunger Action Month. This year, the need is especially desperate due to the economic ramifications of COVID-19.
Before the pandemic hit, nearly 17 percent of those living in northern Indiana did not know from where their next meal would come and, each night, one in four children went to bed hungry. These numbers have skyrocketed during the past five months. The goal of the Fighting Irish Fighting Hunger drive, held at Notre Dame each September, is to ease that need. You can hear about the struggle the pantries are facing in their own words in this short video.
This year, the Fighting Irish Fighting Hunger drive will be ongoing through Sunday, Sept. 27. Because of campus COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no food collection boxes or campus gatherings such as pizza lunches or bake sales to raise money. This year’s drive relies on online donations which agencies will use to purchase food. “In my 10 years of running this food drive, the need for our help has never been greater. Yet our ability to raise funds has never been so constricted because of the pandemic,” said Anne Kolaczyk, lead tech training specialist in the Office of Information Technologies.
As a way to raise funds for the drive, a Bible signed by the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., will be auctioned. It is a New American Bible from Saint Benedict Press with a leatherette cover. You can check the current high bid as well as make your own bid on our FightingHunger.nd.edu website.
Also on FightingHunger.nd.edu:
- A link to the online donation sites for the United Way coalition of food pantries People Gotta Eat and the Food Bank of Northern Indiana
- More information about the Bible auction as well as links to make a bid
- Information if you want to write a check rather than make an online donation
- A video in which the pantries talk about their struggles
This is the 11th annual drive. During the past 10 years, almost $250,000 and 14,500 pounds of food have been collected. The generosity of the campus community has a tremendous impact on the lives of those in the community.
“I can only pray that our campus community will share the blessings of Our Lady with our neighbors who are struggling in these times,” said Kolaczyk.