September is Hunger Action Month – a month where people all over America stand together with the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks, including the Food Bank for Larimer County, to fight hunger. It’s safe to say that this year’s Hunger Action Month will be different than in years past due to COVID-19. It’s also safe to say that your help over the next 30 days and beyond will be critical to those impacted by the pandemic.

Here are just a few actions you can take to make a difference this month:

• Join us for The Taste! That’s right, the Taste is happening this year – virtually. We have six extremely talented – and brave – chefs from some of your favorite local restaurants going head-to-head to see who can be most creative preparing a meal using ingredients found mostly at the Food Bank. Learn more at tastebenefit.org.
• Volunteer at the Food Bank for Larimer County. In response to COVID-19, we have restructured our volunteer process to ensure safety for all involved. Our volunteers are still the heart of our organization.
• Organize a fund or food drive. Community sponsored fund and food drives are vital to Food Bank operations – now more than ever. Just be sure to always practice social distancing and be safe when collecting donations and food.
• Plant It Forward by donating fresh veggies from your garden. It’s easy to donate any of your extra vegetables from your backyard harvest and community members are invited and challenged to plant an extra row in their garden.
• Advocate – Ending hunger requires an active partnership between individuals like you, service organizations, the private sector and the government. As a hunger-relief advocate, you can help us educate elected officials on the importance of hunger-relief programming.
• Last but certainly not least, donate. Every dollar donated to the Food Bank equals two meals given to somebody that is hungry in our community. You can also donate food that is always needed, especially during COVID-19.

We’ve even created a Hunger Action Month calendar so you can take action all month long. Working together and taking action we can grow a healthy, hunger-free community.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s Cans Around the Oval event and once again to CSU for going above and beyond to support the Food Bank for Larimer County and its hunger-relief efforts.

The annual event wrapped up on Wednesday, October 16, with Can Collection Day, where food donations circled the entire Oval as a visual representation of how much can be done to fight hunger when an entire community steps up and works together to collect food and funds. Once sorted, all the food will be distributed primarily to the Food Bank’s community partners, while the monetary donations will be used to fund Food Bank programs like its Fresh Food Share pantries and Nutritious Kitchen

Cans began in 1986 with one graduate student, Victoria Keller. As manager of the original student engagement office, Keller read a journalism student’s proposal of a canned food drive, which sparked the fire for Cans Around the Oval. Keller, wanting to pursue the proposal, contacted the Food Bank’s then Director, Sandy Bowden, who coined the name Cans Around the Oval. Although Sandy was too busy to be involved that first year, Keller and two other students decided to take on the efforts of orchestrating Cans Around the Oval.

Cans Around the Oval has grown to become a Colorado State University tradition, where students, faculty, and staff partner with community members, local media, and area businesses to raise awareness about the issue of hunger, as well as raise food and monetary donations.

In the more than three decades since Cans Around the Oval began, it has evolved to become one of the largest food drives in Larimer County, resulting in more than 2 million donated meals.

Click here to learn more about Cans Around the Oval.