It's hard to grasp how big 1 billion really is. This number is so big, I could give you $5000 a day and it would take 547 years to finally become a billionaire. Check out this video to give you some perspective on how big 1 billion really is.

This past Saturday the United Way Quad Cities took part in an annual drive that surpassed the 1 billion mark for pounds of foods raised over the last 30 years, according to KCRG. This food drive is called "Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive" and is the largest one-day food drive in the country.

The dedication to continue doing this has certainly paid off. 1 billion pounds of food being raised is an insane number. This has helped hundreds of millions of people not go hungry or deal with food insecurity in the United States. According to Feeding America, more than 38 million people including 12 million children are food insecure.

Unsplash - Nico Smit
Unsplash - Nico Smit
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Every single community in the United States has families who face hunger and rural communities have it even worse. What makes this harder is there are many homes that do not qualify for federal nutrition programs. Those families rely on local food banks and other food programs for extra support, according to Feeding America.

The drive could've passed the 1 billion mark even sooner than this year. For the previous two years, they've had to hold off on the food drive due to covid restrictions.

Vice President of Community Impact at United Way Quad Cities, Marci Zogg, told KCRG

“We at United Way are honored to, once again, join our partners in organized labor to address hunger, a barrier that can hold back Quad Citizens from reaching their full potential.”

Normally around this time is when food banks start to run low. Tony Bultinck is a mail carrier for the Rock Island Post office and he told KCRG.

“It’s the perfect time of the year for this drive because schools are going to be getting out pretty soon and a lot of kids depend on that early, before-school breakfast and lunch, and without school, not a lot of kids are going to get those meals, so the food banks are going to need this, need all of this, in the next couple of weeks.”

If you'd like to donate to your local food bank, according to KCRG, some of the top requested items of food are cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, canned fruits, veggies, soup, and 100% juice.

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