Shanee Walker hosted a Friendsgiving on behalf of No Kid Hungry in 2019. To help with the effort, she used the No Kid Hungry resources and took weekends and downtime in between and after work to chat with local establishments to obtain in-kind donations and discounts toward items needed for the event. Though there were many unanswered emails, the couple of yeses made all the difference.
Shanee received a donation of flowers from a local florist, which not only helped serve as beautiful centerpieces for the dinner table, but was also as a raffle item for the first 3 people to provide a donation during dessert. To make the day a success, she requested dietary restrictions in advance from RSVPs and had the dinner catered by a local restaurant. Upon sharing the details of this Friendsgiving dinner, the restaurant worked within my budget and kindly donated an extra dish and dessert towards the day. One local establishment provided a special “No Kid Hungry” discount code for the week leading up to Friendsgiving. This code gave 10% off items, and 15% of the purchase and proceeds were donated directly to No Kid Hungry.
In the end, the day was a success, the message of No Kid Hungry really touched the hearts of my loved ones and local establishments, and Shanee exceeded her fundraising goal, raising enough to provide over 6,500 meals to children in need.