Each year on the first Sunday in May thousands of volunteers and walkers converge on Boston Common, united by a common goal, ending hunger in Massachusetts. This year Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger was the first large public gathering since the Boston Marathon bombings, so understandably registrations were lower in number than previous years. Happily there was still an amazing turnout. Thirty thousand walkers and seventeen hundred volunteers raised 3.1 million dollars!

We are happy to say that we sponsored our co-worker, Rajan Jhaveri and his wife Hitaishi, who did the walk. Rajan completed all twenty miles and made it look easy! The route begins on the Boston Common and winds through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown and Cambridge before returning to the Common. Funds from the walk go to community-based meal programs, to school nutrition initiatives, to improved access to local farmer’s markets and other food related activities.

“The 2012 Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts notes that the food insecurity rate has grown by over 43% since the start of the recession in 2008.” This translates into 11.9% of families in the state who must choose between paying a heating or medical bill and buying food. Needless to say, this walk and the money it generates is vitally important. I have already put it on my calendar for next year. Won’t you join us?

For more information about how you might help, log onto:

www.projectbread.org