Honor Moms by Supporting Feed the Children this Mother's Day

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Being a mom is a full-time job. Ask any mom and they can tell you about the all-night shifts that stretch into the early morning hours and the never-complete to-do lists. Feed the Children, a leading nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood hunger, is inviting everyone, everywhere to honor their mothers and the women who have made a difference in their lives by supporting the nonprofit's fundraising efforts to provide food and essentials for struggling families this year. 

In addition to their household responsibilities, moms also play an important part in today's workforce.  According to the Department of Labor, 40 percent of moms are the primary source of income for their households.  This comes with its own set of challenges as many times jobs require time commitments outside a 9 to 5 day.

2020 was especially difficult for moms with more than 2.3 million women leaving the labor force in the past year as schools shifted to online learning and childcare facilities closed their doors. Single moms were impacted significantly by the crisis and lost jobs at a far higher rate than other families with children. In total, the economic impact of working moms' coronavirus-related juggling act has been estimated at $341 billion.

Single mom Mandy worries about being able to take care of Mitchell and provide for him. She worries about what could happen to them if she's laid off. They've been homeless before when Mitchell was 3 years old. And while they're securely housed now, Mandy knows how uncertain life can be, and how little it takes to lose everything.

"I have actually gotten to the point where I had one can of food in my cabinet. ...I wanted to cry. I sat there and I opened the cabinet and I saw that one can. And I just wanted to cry."

Even though mom Monica earns a full-time income, sometimes she must make difficult decisions. She's had to choose between paying the power bill and buying groceries before. In her words, "Being a single mom, working a full-time job, there are times where there's more month than money. There's sometimes where things come up unexpectedly and I have to make sacrifices." At times, she's been afraid that she wouldn't be able to feed her children. But even in the face of that fear, Monica never wanted her kids to worry. She'd answer their questions confidently, in the faith that something good would happen.

A strong family has a strong foundation, and we couldn't be more grateful for the foundations in our lives: our mothers. Thank you to all the moms who carry the world and more on their shoulders every day, but even more so over the last year. If you would like to honor your mother by donating to help mothers and their children across the U.S. and around the world, visit feedthechildren.org/mothersday.

About Feed the Children

At Feed the Children, we feed hungry kids. We envision a world where no child goes to bed hungry. In the U.S. and internationally, we are dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. We distribute product donations from corporate donors to local community partners, we provide support for teachers and students, and we mobilize resources quickly to aid recovery efforts when natural disasters strike. Internationally, we manage child-focused community development programs in 9 countries. We welcome partnerships because we know our work would not be possible without collaborative relationships. Every dollar given goes eight times as far to provide food, hope, dignity and comfort.

For more information, visit feedthechildren.org. 

SOURCE Feed the Children