On Thursday, June 3, food banks across the country celebrated National Hunger Awareness Day with this year’s theme being “One Big Table,” symbolizing that every American deserves a place at the table.

The Food Bank of North Carolina, serving 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina, is asking people on National Hunger Awareness Day to think about hunger in their community and the people it serves. Nearly half those served by the Food Bank are children and 11 percent are the elderly.

The Food Bank’s warehouse in the Sandhills serves four counties: Lee, Moore, Richmond and Scotland Counties. There are 30,520 individuals living at or below the poverty level. This represents 14.7 percent of the population. There are 11,838 children living at or below the poverty level. In 2002-03, the Food Bank distributed 2,675,733 pounds of food valued at $4,254,415.

Volunteers gave 5,307 of service through the Food Bank’s warehouse in Sandhills in 2001-02. This is equivalent to a staff of three full-time employees.

To learn more about National Hunger Awareness Day, visit www.hungerday.org.

The Food Bank of North Carolina is a private, not-for-profit organization, which serves more than 864 partner agencies throughout central and eastern North Carolina. One of six America’s Second Harvest member food banks in North Carolina, the Food Bank solicits, collects, stores, and distributes food to nonprofit agencies assisting people at risk from hunger and has branches in Wilmington, Raleigh, Durham, Greenville, and the Sandhills. The Food Bank distributed more than 24 million pounds of food to those in need in fiscal year 2002-03.