Aug. 27, 2024 – Join the fight against childhood hunger this fall by doubling the impact of your donations. Through Sept. 30, every donation to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food for Kids Programs is matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $315,000 thanks to the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma, Chesapeake Energy, Mark and Beth Brewer, Marathon Oil, Dolese Bros. Corp., Energy Transfer, David Gorham and David and Lezlie Hudiburg.

“I’m proud to partner with the Regional Food Bank for this opportunity to help provide meals to the next generation of Oklahomans. The Food for Kids Match is an easy way to make a big impact in lives of Oklahoma children,” said David Gorham, Food for Kids Match sponsor. “I encourage Oklahomans to take advantage of the opportunity to have double the impact of their donations.”

Oklahoma consistently ranks as one of the worst states for child food insecurity in the nation. The Regional Food Bank’s four Food for Kids Programs help children and their families in all 53 counties served by the Regional Food Bank in central and western Oklahoma.

“Community collaboration is key to the Regional Food Bank fighting childhood hunger in Oklahoma,” said Stacy Dykstra, chief executive officer of the Regional Food Bank. “We are so grateful for the generosity of our match sponsors, like David Gorham, who are making a huge impact on the work we do.”

The School Pantry Program, one of the four Food for Kids Programs, provides chronically hungry middle and high school students with food to sustain them after school and over the weekends. Last school year, the program provided more than 330,000 meals to students at 164 schools. Melody, a School Pantry Program coordinator in the Putnam City Public School district, shared the following story of the program’s impact at home and in the classroom.

“We have a middle schooler that is very food insecure and we were able to get him shopping at our pantry. I truly believe that without the pantry program this student would have to survive just off of food from the cafeteria,” Melody said. “Being able to offer him a bag every week has helped him learn better in the classroom because he is now getting dinner and snacks at home too.”

Make a donation to the Food for Kids Match today at foodforkids.us or call 405-600-3136. An automatic $10 donation can be made by texting “Kids” to 501-501.