ConAgra Foods Foundation Funds Nationwide Awareness Campaign “Summer Isn’t Fun When You Are Hungry” New public service advertisements (PSAs) released today by Feeding America and the Ad Council are designed to raise awareness of where families across the country can find free and nutritious meals for their children during the summer months when school isn’t in session. Entitled “Summer Isn’t Fun When You Are Hungry“ the PSAs draw attention to the startling statistic that though more than 21 million children receive free and reduced price meals during the school year, only 2 million children access free meals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Programs in the summer.
“During the school year millions of children rely on free or reduced-priced school lunches. During the summer months, however, many parents don’t know where to turn to find that support. Lack of access to those meals means our children are spending their summer days thinking about food instead of enjoying everyday summer activities and adventures,” said Rhonda Chafin, Executive Director of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, “We have the programs to support this need, but we need to let our community know about them.”
The emotionally charged PSAs leverage TV, radio and outdoor advertisements in an effort to direct families in need to contact their local food bank for help or visit FeedingAmerica.org/SummerMeals to find more information on the program in their area. The campaign was created by San Francisco – based ad agency Cutwater, with production and distribution funded by the ConAgra Foods Foundation, Feeding America’s Leadership Partner in the fight to end child hunger. The ConAgra Foods Foundation has been the first to fund many Feeding America initiatives, including the national expansion of the afterschool program “Kids’ Café,” “Map the Meal Gap” county-level child hunger data, and the expansion of the summer food service program “Hunger Free Summer”.
Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council, added: – “These PSAs will enable Feeding America food banks in Northeast Tennessee to provide families seamless access to meals throughout the summer months. We encourage media to support them so millions of children in can ‘stop worrying about food, and start focusing on fun’ this summer.”
This PSA campaign highlights the harsh reality that millions of children aren’t sure where they’ll get their next meal when the final school bell rings. The PSAs clearly make the point that “summer isn’t fun when you’re hungry” by showing children sitting out of normal summer activities because they are hungry, wishing that they were back in school so that they could get a regular meal.
To view and share the new PSAs click here.
“As a father, I can’t imagine kids who would rather be in school or couldn’t participate in the simple joys of summer because they were hungry. Yet so many do,” said Chuck McBride, Founder and Executive Creative Director at Cutwater. “This simple, compelling truth was the foundation of our execution. All we had to do is tell that story and keep it real.”
Per the Ad Council model, the localized PSAs will run and air in advertising time that is donated by the media. These PSAs are part of the national Hunger Prevention campaign, which has received more than $135 million worth of donated media since its launch in November 2008. The campaign aims to increase the social consciousness of hunger in the U.S., while diminishing the stereotypes about those who are hungry in America.
