Share My Strength: Spread the Word

I know it's the end of the month, and for many of you it's bill-paying time. I hope you're being careful with your holiday budgets so as not to take out a second mortgage to pay for the new Wii for your kids (or, um, yourself). However, if you have a few bucks left over, please consider donating to Share Our Strength. There are thousands of charities out there that do really great work, so if you already have a cause you support, thank you. If you're looking to give a little something extra this holiday season, I hope you'll consider SOS.

More than 34 million Americans (just over 10% of our population) go to bed every night not knowing where their next meal is coming from. This is what is known as being "food insecure." Of those 34 million, 12 million are kids. And, it's not who you might think -- many food insecure families are those in which a parent was recently laid off, is sick, or passed away, and because they were already living paycheck to paycheck, they have to scramble to figure out how to afford the basics like the monthly electric bill and food. They're people who "didn't think it could happen to me." But it does. And, let's face it -- no matter what a parent's socioeconomic circumstances, the fact that any child goes to bed in America not knowing if he or she will be able to EAT the next day is wrong. It's just wrong.

There are plenty of food-related charities out there, and I'm sure many of you already donate to the ones in your local area. Good for you, and thank you for supporting them. The reason I like Share Our Strength is because in addition to the work they do supporting local nonprofits across the country, they have a national focus on addressing the root causes of poverty and hunger. I've been in Washington for 21 years, and have spent many of those years doing consulting work in the national non-profit arena. I've been following Share Our Strength's work on this issue for many years, and I think they're incredible. They're a rock-solid organization with strategic goals, a strong infrastructure, an important mission, and above all, a good heart.

If you can, please send a little money their way. I will match 10% of the total donations received by December 31.

Here's what to do:
Click here to donate online (and list French Laundry at Home as the "honoree").

Or, you can mail a check to (write "French Laundry at Home" in the memo section):
Share Our Strength
ATTN: Amy Zganjar
1730 M Street NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036


Thank you in advance for any amount you're able to give. Please feel free to email this post to your friends, family, co-workers and others, or post it on your favorite food forums or blogs to help spread the word. Again, I'll match 10% of total donations made by the end of the year. Let's see how fast you cats can clean out my wallet.

Note: I'd like to be able to publicly thank everyone who made a donation, but I also understand if you'd like to keep it quiet. So, let's make this an opt-in: if you've made a donation and want to be included in my public thank-you list, shoot me an email to tell me under what name you made the donation and how you'd like me to list your name or organization publicly. I won't list dollar amounts, unless there is a significant gift that I believe deserves some special recognition and the donor agrees.