An organization normally associated with helping people lose weight is also trying to help feed people who’re hungry. Nancy Braack, with Weight Watchers in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says their campaign called “Lose For Good” is donating canned goods to a regional food bank and money to two large anti-hunger charities.
“One of them is called Share Our Strength, which is one of the leading charity organizations in America that really focuses on kids and helping them so there are no kids in America that grow up hungry.” The second charity is Action Against Hunger, which helps feed people in different troubled parts of the world. Braack says the campaign is also helping the Omaha Food Bank, which distributes food to outlets across Nebraska and in 16 Iowa counties. She says they’re challenging Weight Watchers clients.
“Every pound that they lose, they bring in an item to donate to the local food bank,” Brack says. “So, what we’re seeing in response is, some people will take it that, if I lose a pound, I’m going to bring in a sack full of food. If I lose a pound, I will bring in a pound of pasta. If I lose a pound, I will bring in one item.” Braack says from the look of things, members are losing weight and being generous at the same time.
“Last year, there were over 2,040 food banks that benefited from over 1.5-million pounds of food that was donated,” she says. “As I can see from our locations here in Omaha so far this year, we’re going to pass that easily because of the amount of food that I can see here that’s being donated.”
The Omaha Food Bank supplies food items to 300 agencies in Nebraska and Iowa, including food pantries, meal providers, emergency shelters, low-income child care centers, senior citizen programs and rehab centers. Last year, it reached 300-thousand people in the two states. For more on the program, visit “www.weightwatchers.com” or the Food Bank at: “www.omahafoodbank.org“.