MARIETTA, OK – The Chickasaw Nation and Feed the Children partnered this year to bring holiday care packages to hundreds of Love County families Dec. 12 during No Hunger Holidays. The holiday care packages were distributed to an estimated 800 Marietta-area families during a drive-thru event conducted at the Love County Fairgrounds.
The packages provided children and families with food and essentials, including a five-day supply of family meal kits designed to feed a family of four each day, and a 15-pound box of daily essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, five pairs of socks and other personal care items, as well as books and toys. In addition, boxed meals from the Chickasaw Nation Impa’chi program were provided to children who attended the event.
The Love County event was one of several No Hunger Holidays events conducted nationwide by Feed the Children in November and December. This is the ninth year the Chickasaw Nation and Feed the Children have partnered to provide resources to families across Oklahoma during the holiday season through No Hunger Holidays.
Marietta was hit by a tornado last spring and the city’s only grocery store, along with several businesses and medical facilities, were destroyed.
“They lost their grocery store, and they are still without one,” said Joy Standridge, Chickasaw Nation Director of Child Nutrition Services. “This community has had a hard time recovering (from the storm’s destruction) and No Hunger Holidays is one of the ways the Chickasaw Nation can bless families in this area.”
Previous No Hunger Holiday events took place in Ada, Ardmore, Kingston, Madill, Newcastle, Pauls Valley, Sulphur and Tishomingo.
“The Chickasaw Nation’s collaboration with Feed the Children helps carry out our mission, to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people, and extend that mission to our neighbors,” said Standridge. “We hope offering these gifts to our Chickasaw families and neighbors will brighten their holiday season and we are pleased to once again work with Feed the Children to help serve Oklahoma families.”
Oklahoma currently ranks in the top five hungriest states in the country, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. In rural Oklahoma, 15.5 percent of the households are food insecure, Standridge said. The No Hunger Holidays campaign aims to supply food and essentials to children and families during the holidays, as well as bring awareness to the important issue of childhood hunger.
“We are grateful for a long-standing partnership with the Chickasaw Nation,” said Catherine White, Feed the Children Corporate Partnership Manager. “We are an Oklahoma-founded non-profit and getting to conduct these resource rally events in our own backyard, here in Marietta, really means a lot to us.”