WSEM Food Stamp Challenge As the holidays approach, West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WSEM) and the Cleveland Foodbank would like to offer you and your company’s employees an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Clevelanders in need. We are asking Northeast Ohio companies to take the 2009 WSEM Food Stamp Challenge November 13th -19th.
Designed to raise awareness about hunger and generate critically needed funds to help feed hungry children and adults in our community, the project is the brainchild of the WSEM volunteer Junior Advisory Board – a group of young professionals who have already committed to take the challenge themselves.
How It Works
The WSEM Food Stamp Challenge is a 7-day commitment in which participants will gain an understanding of what it is like to live on $26.75 a week ($26.75 a week or $1.27 per meal is the average food stamp allocation in 2009). To participate, we ask that your organization commit to recruiting 25 employees that will sign a “contract” pledging to spend no more than $26.75 for the duration of the Challenge. Each of the 25 Challengers are then asked to recruit 25 Sponsors that are each asked to commit at least $25, thus raising $625 each. If you accomplish this goal of recruiting 25 employees to each recruit 25 sponsors at $25 – your company’s employees will collectively raise $15,625 to fight hunger in Cleveland. The efforts of your company and employees will be recognized by WSEM and as part of a local media campaign this holiday season, if you so desire. And of course, WSEM welcomes any level of participation with this project.
Every dollar raised by the employees of your company will be used by the three WSEM Food Centers (Brookside, Community Corner and Near West) to supplement the food pantry with nutritious fresh food items and link WSEM’s clients to critical outreach services to help lead them down the path to self-sufficiency.
To get started,
download the WSEM Food Stamp Challenge Toolkit !
To donate online, click here and select "WSEM Food Stamp Challenge" from the drop-down menu.
Spread the word about your experiences on your Twitter or Facebook accounts, or follow WSEM Junior Advisory Board tweets at
WSEMJAB .