It's not my neighbors

I live on a typical American street. Houses with families, cars in the drive, kids in the yard. It's what we don't see from the outside that concerns me. It's these same people who live on my street that struggle to feed their families. My neighbors.

1 in 6 Americans face hunger. Check out these facts from Hunger America.

Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security ^iv

• In 2011, 50.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
• In 2011, 14.9 percent of households (17.9 million households) were food insecure.
• In 2011, 5.7 percent of households (6.8 million households) experienced very low food security.
• In 2011, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20.6 percent compared to 12.2percent.
• In 2011, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20.6 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (36.8 percent) or single men (24.9 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (25.1 percent) and Hispanic households (26.2 percent).
• In 2011, 8.8 percent of seniors living alone (1 million households) were food insecure.
• Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 5 percent in Steele County, ND to a high of 37 percent in Holmes County, MS.^v

 

How can people in America, the greatest country on earth, still be dealing with hunger? I worked up a really good case of mad over this and committed myself to taking action and that's how Strings for Hope came about.

In this grace filled period we have called January where we make resolutions to do better, be better, do you have a resolution to serve others?

What are you going to do in 2013

I love the freshness of a new year! I love the new calendar. The clean slate. I love the feeling that anything is possible.

As a start-up non-profit organization we're setting some lofty goals for 2013. When we submitted our application for 501(c)(3) status we had to estimate our budget going out for three years. This past year we funded 24,000 meals between our local food bank and two global missions. We estimated we'd double our funding so this year we're making a push to hit the 50,000 meal mark.

If I had to pick out one thing I was most proud of in 2012 it was securing a spot in Planet Roo at Bonnaroo - the #1 outdoor music festival in the country. Four days in Manchester, TN with 100,000 of our nearest and dearest friends, we spread the word on how we could impact our community and keep guitar strings out of the landfills.

Join us in 2013 as we relentlessly pursue our dream of Curing Hunger One Note at a Time.
Happy New Year - Laura