Leaders participate in food assistance challenge

Leaders in southern Colorado are participating in a food challenge this week, to raise awareness about hunger in the community.

They must eat on $4.50 a day for five days, a budget comparable to what an average person receives from food assistance. Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado organizes the challenge.

“We hope (participants) and the entire community understand and have a greater awareness not only of the food assistance program also known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or food stamps, but also just hunger in general in our community,” Marketing and Communications Director Shannon Coker said.

According to Care and Share, one in seven people in Southern Colorado is at risk of hunger.

The experience has been eye opening for Kelly Snyder, one of the celebrity participants. She is the Board President of the Manitou Art Center and wife of the city’s mayor.

“I kept having to do the addition, and when I got to the counter, I was really confident I had budgeted well,” Snyder said. “(But) I ended up having to put things back.”

She and Coker said everyone should attempt the challenge for at least one or two days.

To learn more about SNAP and follow along with the participants’ journey in the challenge, click here.