Our last night in Baker House unpacked. We will treasure our time spent here forever. Baker, and our Baker family, was very good to us and this will always be a special place for us. Jeannette lived here when we got engaged, we got married here, we spent the first 4 years of our married life here, and we have made many dear friends here.

More pictures after the jump.

Today we walked our 6th Walk for Hunger. This means we have now walked 120 miles raising money to fight hunger and raising awareness for the hunger problem in Massachusetts. Thanks to our family and friends, this year we were able to raise over $1300 and our Baker House team raised over $6500 at last count (the total is still rising). The Baker House team has now raised over $20,000 over the last 5 years.  We had 11 walkers this year. It was a great walk! There are more pictures from the walk after the jump, as well as some hunger facts. But first I want to say a quick thank you to everyone for your support, financial and otherwise. Project Bread fights hunger and advocates change in the community in which Josh and I live. It is an organization that Josh and I believe in and choose to support year after year. We thank you for your support and solidarity in fighting hunger. As the state’s leading antihunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. In addition to organizing the annual Walk for Hunger and supporting emergency food programs statewide, Project Bread also advocates systematic solutions that prevent hunger in children and that provide food to families in everyday settings. Since 1969, Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger has provided critical resources for hungry children and families in Massachusetts.

Today, The Walk for Hunger is the oldest continual pledge walk in the country, and the largest annual one-day fundraiser to alleviate local hunger. It is one of the few walks dedicated to social justice. Money raised through The Walk for Hunger funds more than 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, food banks, and food salvage programs in 128 communities across Massachusetts. The 20-mile Walk route weaves through Boston, Brookline, Newton, and Cambridge.

HUNGER FACTS FROM THE 2008 HUNGER STATUS REPORT
* More than 70 percent of families in low-income neighborhoods report having run out of money to make a meal. Nearly one third of the families say they cut the size of their children’s meals or a child missed a meal because there was not enough money.

* Hunger continues to be prevalent in Massachusetts with 522,000 people struggling to put food on the table. Hunger is primarily found in low-income communities, where the rate is six times higher than the statewide average. Hunger damages everyone it touches; however, certain groups —children, senior adults, and people with chronic illness — are especially vulnerable. For them, even short periods of food insecurity can lead to a health emergency.

* The most recent measurement revealed that 198,380 households or 8.1 percent of all Massachusetts households were food insecure with more than one third of these experiencing hunger. This is an increase from 20012003 when 6.2 percent of Massachusetts households were food insecure and 2.3 percent were found to be food insecure with hunger.

Elle & Wilson & Jeannette & Will

Project Soggy Bread

The Walk was a little big soggy this year! But we had a lot of fun!  The Baker House team raised over $5,000 for the second year in a row and has now raised over $15,000 in 4 years.  YAY!!  For more information see www.projectbread.org, our yearly team page www.projectbread.org/goto/baker and our personal pages www.projectbread.org/goto/jeannette and www.projectbread.org/goto/josh.