In 2010, the No Kid Hungry Campaign was launched in the United States to shine a national spotlight on the crisis of child hunger in America.
“No child should grow up hungry in America, but 1 in 5 children struggle with hunger,” Andy Villabona, associate for the No Kid Hungry Campaign, said.
He said the No Kid Hungry Campaign sees a future where kids have access to the healthy food they need.
“Our hopes for the future is rather than kids feeling the stress of food insecurity, kids will one day be able to be kids,” Villabona said.
Since the launch of the campaign, 107 million hungry kids have been connected to meals.
Over 10,000 restaurants across the country are involved in this campaign, and the Mellow Mushroom of Tuscaloosa is one of them.
“Last year, we raised nearly $8 million for No Kid Hungry through initiatives like dining out with participating restaurants like Mellow Mushroom,” Villabona said. “We hope to reach $10 million this September.”
Annica Kreider, vice president of brand development for Mellow Mushroom, said she thinks childhood hunger is an unacceptable and solvable problem.
“In Alabama, the percentage of children that are food insecure is 25.8 percent, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Kreider said. “Of these almost 300,000 children in Alabama, only 8.5 percent of them are part of a summer meals program.”
Kreider said this is Mellow Mushroom’s third year participating in this campaign and their contributions have grown each year.
“This year our goal is to raise $100,000, which would connect hungry kids to a million meals,” she said.
Kreider said this year Mellow Mushroom has three different ways they plan to help raise funds.
When a guest purchases either a buffalo chicken pizza or an order of oven roasted wings, $1 will be donated. They will cap the donating at $5,000. If a customer donates $1 or more, he or she gets a mushroom “pin up” on the wall. Anyone can make an online donation at nokidhungry.org/mellowmushroom.
If a guest donates $10 or more, they are entered to win a VIP all-expenses-paid experience to their choice of either an international all-inclusive Hard Rock Resort in Costa Maya, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or Punta Cana, or a trip to the New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, where they will brew beer with a master brewer.
Anders Baker, kitchen manager at Mellow Mushroom, said he is proud to be working with such a charitable organization.
“This cause is something that will not only help families in Alabama, but also children and families nationwide,” Baker said.
