Portland man skips out on lunch to help starving children
Those working the 9-5 grind know how valuable a lunch hour is. It's a much needed break between endless business tasks and meetings, where the hardest workers gorge on any hamburgers, burritos, or salads in a nearby vicinity. One Portland man, though, has been utilizing his lunch break not to quench his own hunger, but to raise awareness for children who can't do so on their own.
In July, Anton Cobb started hOURLUNCH, an initiative to raise money and awareness to battle child hunger. Every Wednesday, Cobb will sit at a table in Portland's Director Park from 12-1 p.m. and simply not eat. Cobb has a sign with him that reads "I am skipping lunch so that 30 children won't, will you join me?"
Cobb says that he read an article about a 14-year-old's inspiring experience after using a food bank with her family for the first time. "I knew that I wanted to do something to help children in my own community . . . I made a sign, bought a table cloth and spent my first hOURLUNCH sitting in Director Park in Portland, asking others to donate their lunch money too," Cobb writes on his website.
So far, that Cobb's project has had a massive impact on the community. hOURLUNCH's website states that they have raised nearly 30,000 meals to the hungry. The organization's social media pages has uploaded other participants who have donated their $10 lunch money in support of the cause.
You can learn more about hOURLUNCH at the links below.
