GREAT AMERICAN DINE OUT

From September 19 -25, Share Our Strength in concert with restaurants across the country, will implement the first-ever Great American Dine Out. Learn how you can help beat childhood hunger in America.

THE SHAME OF OUR COUNTRY: One-in-four children are hungry today. Over fourteen million children live in poverty. Almost half the children in our country will receive food stamps at some point during their lives. Our currently weak economy has put families which were formerly stable at risk. Learn more about how you can help by spreading the word, making donations, involving your restaurant, and/or initiating or participating in a neighborhood bake sale for The Great American Bakesale by visiting Share Our Strength's site.

The percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years, the Census Bureaure ported Thursday, and interviews with poverty experts and aid groups said the increase appeared to be continuing this year.

With the country in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, four million additional Americans found themselves in poverty in 2009, with the total reaching 44 million, or one in seven residents. Millions more were surviving only because of expanded unemployment insurance and other assistance. MORE [New York Times, September 16, 2010.

The Mission Statement:

Share Our Strength® is the leading national organization working to make sure that no kid grows up hungry in America. We use the funds raised through programs like Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out® to support No Kid Hungry™, our national campaign to end childhood hunger in America.

Through No Kid Hungry, we fund the most effective anti-hunger organizations across the country, connect needy children and their families with nutritious food, teach families how to cook healthy on a budget,and provide leadership that brings together public and private decision-makers to end childhood hunger, state by state. Through all these means, we are working to ensure that all of America’s children have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Get involved with the Great American Dine Out and make a difference.