Food banks across the country are seeing longer lines and new faces.  Demand and need are up, but corporate and individual donations are waning as Americans become nervous about their financial future. Meanwhile, food prices have yet to fall.

April 1, 2009 has been declared April Food Day by organizers Pigtown*Design and Easy and Elegant Life; a call to action on behalf of the nation’s hungry.  A plea to donate what you can, in any amount you can; even if it’s only a dollar.

What can a dollar buy?

A dollar can buy ten pounds of food.  $25 can buy 75 meals. A dollar can help ensure that schoolchildren begin their day nourished rather than famished.

I know that times are tough, that belts are tightening and budgets are shrinking while prices are rising.  I know that salaries and hours are being cut back- that is, if you are fortunate and still have a stable job.  I know families are cutting back as a result.  I know all this because my family is experiencing this as well.

And I know that there are families who don’t have the luxury of complaining; that when you are struggling, you’re too busy surviving to complain.  There are families that worry about feeding their children on a day-by-day, meal-by-meal basis.

I know that now more than ever, it is imperative to give what we can. If everyone finds it in their heart to donate a few dollars, think what cumulative good that will do.

Small choices make for great impact, right?  Isn’t that what we eco-parents are always saying?

Please consider making a donation today to Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest), an affiliation of over 200 food banks nationwide.  Feeding America estimates that they are helping to feed over 9 million children across the country. That’s nearly 13 percent of our nation’s children.

And the need is growing.

If you are a blogger, consider helping to spread the word:

• Write a post raising awareness of America’s hunger epidemic and food banks’ increasing need for aid;
• Ask your readers to support Feeding America in any way that they can;
• Link to April Food Day and they will link back to your post.

Let’s see what sort of positive impact we can have, together. Today.