The results are in! Common Heart’s 4th annual Hunger Walk fundraiser drew about 200 participants and raised $45,333. That’s enough to provide a week’s worth of groceries to 1,813 struggling local families!
To put that in perspective, Common Heart food pantries are currently serving an average of 1,400 families each month.
Due to the pandemic, these free drive thru food distributions saw more than double the number of families seeking help in 2020 than in 2019. In 2020, Common Heart provided 1,046,635 meals to 17,711 people — serving an estimated 51% of the food insecure residents of Union County an average of 3.6 times each.
According to Feeding America, it’s estimated that the number of food insecure residents in Union County rose by 53% in 2020, compared to 2019, to about 35,000 people — 14.6% of Union County’s population.
This year’s Walk was virtual with participants choosing to walk in their neighborhoods, around their churches or in area parks. The top 3 fundraising teams were: Threshold Church ($6,757 raised), St. Francis UMC ($3,625 raised) & Rotary Club of Waxhaw Weddington ($3,315 raised).