Blogging Out Hunger: The Early Results Are In!

To everyone who made a contribution to the Community FoodBank of NJ and/or helped to raise awareness of hunger here at home in New Jersey, thank you so much for participating. According to our fearless leader, Deb of JerseyBites, yesterday's event was a great success. We got some nice online coverage... the FoodChannel has us on their home page, which was a nice surprise, and we also got coverage on NJ.com. The Ocean Star (down by our beach house in Bay Head, NJ) is running an article this Friday.

I really enjoyed reading the thoughtful posts by so many talented New Jersey bloggers. The great news is, our "Blogging Out Hunger" campaign raised almost $6,000 in online donations (more may come in through the mail). With 122 blogs participating, Njfoodbank.org enjoyed 920 unique site visits, which represents 20% of their total site traffic for December. The PR company says those are great results, especially for a first time strictly viral campaign right before the holidays.

Thanks to yesterday's effort, hunger in New Jersey may take a brief holiday, but the heightened demand for support from the Food Bank is a problem that's likely to be with us for the foreseeable future. I'm going to post the Blogging Out Hunger button in my sidebar to try to keep the donations coming in all year round, so please help out when you can.

Thanks to Deb from JerseyBites for coordinating the NJ Blogging Out Hunger effort, and thanks again to all of you....for reading and caring

Roxy

Blogging Out Hunger on Music Monday: Let Them Know It's Christmas Time. Please Don't Let This Bank Fail!

It was Christmas 1984, almost 25 years ago, when Bob Geldof led Band Aid in "Do They Know Its Christmas Time?" to raise awareness of hunger in Africa. Today, I'm posting this Music Monday video to raise awareness, not of hunger in Africa, but of hunger right here at home in New Jersey. Over 100 New Jersey bloggers have united to fight local NJ hunger in a coordinated "This Bank Can't Fail" blogging campaign for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey on Monday, December 15th. Our goal is to spread the word about the increased demand being put on the food pantries in New Jersey and how everyone can help.



No matter how you feel about the government bailout of the nation's largest banks, I think you'll agree that there's one bank that we can't allow to fail: the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. As you are probably well aware, the Food Bank is in desperate need of donations this holiday season. With bare shelves and demand for food among state residents far outpacing supply, the FoodBank is in danger of being unable to meet the needs of New Jersey’s hungry.

Our team of NJ bloggers will be in good company. Legendary music icon Bruce Springsteen will be lending his voice to the fight against hunger in New Jersey by headlining "We Can't Let This Bank Fail" -- a major advertising campaign and call to action for people to contribute in any way they can to help the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Although Bruce Springsteen has been a supporter of the FoodBank for 23 years, often donating proceeds from his concerts to the organization, this ad marks the first time Springsteen has publicly lent his image to the campaign, due to the urgency of the situation.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is facing a dire shortage of food. Without the public’s support, it may, for the first time in its history, begin to ration food. This is a state-wide crisis, with the unstable economy resulting in a 30 percent increase in those needing food. In years past, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey has provided assistance to more than 500,000 New Jerseyans, but expects to see a major uptick in need this year, especially during the winter months when people often struggle between paying heating and food bills.

We're hoping our efforts will compel everyone to do something, anything, to help. Visit the Community FoodBank of New Jersey at www.njfoodbank.org or call 908-355-FOOD (3663) to learn more. What can you do?

• Make a monetary contribution: Visit http://www.njfoodbank.org/.
• Donate food: Drop off a bag of food at your local food pantry.
• Organize a food drive: We can help explain the logistics of starting a food drive. Just call 908-355-FOOD.
• Help "Check Out Hunger:" Look for the "Check Out Hunger" coupons at your local supermarket and donate. No donation is too small!

It's Christmas time
There's no need to be afraid
At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time

But say a prayer

Pray for the other ones
At Christmas time it's hard, but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring
there are the clanging
chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

(Here's to you) raise a glass for everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted.

We Can't Let This Bank Fail: Roxy Joins Community of New Jersey Bloggers United to Fight Hunger

No matter how you feel about the government bailout of the nation's largest banks, I think you'll agree that there's one bank that we can't allow to fail: the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. My friend Deb over on Jersey Bites invited me to join an upcoming blogging campaign she is coordinating on behalf of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey -- the largest food bank in the state. As you are probably well aware, the Food Bank is in desperate need of donations this holiday season. With bare shelves and demand for food among state residents far outpacing supply, the FoodBank is in danger of being unable to meet the needs of New Jersey’s hungry.

Members of our community of New Jersey bloggers united to fight hunger are scheduled to launch the "This Bank Can't Fail" blogging campaign on Monday, December 15th. Our goal is to get 100 New Jersey bloggers on board to help spread the word about the increased demand being put on the food pantries in New Jersey and how everyone can help. As of today (Friday, December 5th), we have 49 of the 100 bloggers on board and ready to post about the Community FoodBank of New Jersey on December 15th.

Oh, and our team of NJ bloggers will be in good company. Legendary music icon Bruce Springsteen will be lending his voice to the fight against hunger in New Jersey...

Continue reading (how you can help)