Having enough healthy, nutritious food is vital to a child’s emotional and physical development. But this holiday season, 15 million kids across the country will go to bed hungry.

In fact, 14 percent of U.S. households are food insecure, meaning they have limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food. Rates of food insecurity surge past the national average in households that are near or below the federal poverty line or headed by single parents. And while 59 percent of food-insecure households report participating in federal assistance programs, such as SNAP, it’s not enough to keep 48 million children, families and seniors from going hungry — or from being forced to choose between paying for groceries and paying for utilities, medicine, education or transportation.

OnMessage is fighting back. This past week, our team celebrated Thanksgiving by collecting more than 1,500 cans of non-perishable food items. We used them to “can-struct” our Christmas tree in our lobby. The cans will be donated to the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB), a nonprofit organization that works with 250 partner agencies to provide 63 million meals annually — that’s 170,000 meals each day — to hungry kids, families and seniors throughout 13 counties in North Texas.

This week, as you enjoy spending time with loved ones and reflecting on what you are thankful for, we encourage you to join our efforts to end hunger. Below are three important ways you can help fight hunger throughout the year:

  1. Donate food. Launch your own canned food drive, or encourage others to donate some of NTFB’s most-needed items, including low-sodium canned fruit and vegetables, soups and stews, nut butters and brown rice.
  2. Donate money. Each dollar you donate to NTFB provides three nutritious meals. You can also make a donation in someone’s honor or memory.
  3. Donate time. Gather friends, family and coworkers to spend time at your local food bank sorting, packing or distributing food.

We hope you have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!

Learn more about how you can fight hunger in your community.