Feeding America has launched new public service advertisements (PSAs) starring celebrity actress Jennie Garth to bring attention to childhood hunger.
Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, has partnered with the Ad Council since 2008 on a Hunger Prevention campaign designed to raise awareness about hunger in America and the fight to solve it, led by the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks. Jennie Garth donated her time and talent for the project, as have other celebrity activists in past PSAs, including Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner.
“No child should go hungry in this country,” said Jennie Garth. “Feeding America is working hard to make sure that, in our near future, childhood hunger will be a thing of the past.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), one in five children in America – 15 million kids – struggles with hunger. While food insecurity affects people of all ages, it is particularly devastating for children because of the potential for long-term consequences. Research has shown that good nutrition has implications for a child’s future physical and mental health, academic achievement and economic productivity.
“Childhood hunger is a problem we have the power to solve. It takes motivated people to support local food banks and the acceptance that hunger is faced by far too many children in every community across America,” said Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America. “We’re so grateful to Ms. Garth for lending her influence to this issue, and hope that these new PSAs allow us to expose the prevalence of child hunger and engage the nation in solving the problem.”
The new PSAs feature Garth in a food bank discussing the disproportionate effect of hunger on children and pointing out the fact that the billions of pounds of surplus edible food wasted each year in the U.S. can help feed families who are hungry. The ads encourage audiences to visit FeedingAmerica.org to learn more about hunger in their communities, and get involved in the fight to end hunger by volunteering at a local food bank, contacting their Members of Congress, and donating food or funds.
“We’re proud to partner with Feeding America to continue to produce compelling work and help solve this critical issue,” said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. “No one should go hungry in America, especially around the holidays. We hope that Garth’s recognition will encourage volunteers, supporters and donors to support the millions of children in need.”
The new PSAs are an extension of the Hunger Prevention campaign which was launched by Feeding America and the Ad Council in 2008. The new TV PSAs were created pro bono by 360i. Per the Ad Council’s model, all PSAs will run in advertising time and space entirely donated by the media. Since the launch of the Hunger Prevention campaign, media outlets across the country have donated more than $374 million in support for the PSAs.
