September Is Hunger Action Month: Turn Awareness into Action
September is Hunger Action Month, a nationwide invitation to learn about hunger, support our neighbors and work toward a future in which everyone has enough nutritious food.
This year, that invitation is especially urgent. Arizona food banks report record demand as families contend with high grocery and housing costs and reduced access to food assistance. An estimated 470,000 fewer Arizonans—including more than 200,000 children—are receiving SNAP benefits than a year ago. At the same time, St. Mary’s Food Bank expects to distribute 300,000 more meals this year while receiving less food from federal sources.
Food banks are responding heroically—but charitable food alone cannot end hunger. Hunger Action Month calls us to offer immediate help and also ask why so many people cannot afford the food they need.
For Lutherans, this work is rooted in faith. We pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” not only for ourselves, but for all God’s people. ELCA World Hunger reminds us that hunger is connected to poverty, wages, housing, health care, discrimination and public policy. Feeding our neighbors and advocating for just systems are both expressions of our baptismal call to “strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”
Here are some ways to take action in Arizona this September
Walk against hunger in Southern Arizona
The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona’s 2026 HungerWalk will be held Saturday, September 12, with walks in Tucson at Kino Sports Complex and in Green Valley at Historic Canoa Ranch. You can also participate as a virtual walker wherever you live.
Gather a congregational team, invite friends or sponsor a walker. HungerWalk raises both funds and awareness for the work of ending hunger throughout Southern Arizona.
Make hunger part of “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday
The ELCA’s annual “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday is September 13. It is a natural opportunity to connect service with hunger ministry.
Congregations might:
Volunteer together at a food bank, pantry, community garden or meal program.
Assemble emergency food boxes or weekend food bags for students.
Collect the specific foods requested by a local pantry.
Organize a “noisy offering” or special collection for ELCA World Hunger or a local hunger ministry.
Invite a food-bank representative, school nutrition worker or SNAP outreach specialist to speak.
Deliver thank-you notes and treats to school cafeteria workers, pantry volunteers or community food-distribution staff.
Before planning a food drive, ask the receiving organization what it needs most. In many cases, a financial gift allows a food bank to purchase more food—and exactly the right food—than an individual shopper can provide for the same amount.
Find an opportunity near you
The Arizona Food Bank Network provides a searchable directory of food banks and community food programs throughout the state. Contact the organization nearest you to learn about volunteer shifts, food and fund drives, advocacy opportunities and its most-needed items.
Among the statewide and regional organizations offering opportunities are:
St. Mary’s Food Bank, with Hunger Action Month events and volunteer opportunities in central and northern Arizona. On National Food Bank Day, Friday, September 4, volunteers can help pack emergency food boxes during morning and afternoon shifts.
United Food Bank, serving communities in the East Valley and eastern Arizona, with opportunities to learn, advocate, donate and volunteer.
Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, serving Tucson and communities across Southern Arizona.
Yuma Community Food Bank, serving Yuma, La Paz and Imperial counties.
St. Vincent de Paul, providing meals, food boxes and other assistance through locations and community partners across Arizona.
Food banks often need dependable volunteers after September, too. Consider adopting a monthly or quarterly volunteer shift rather than making Hunger Action Month a one-time activity.
Make your congregation a hunger-resource hub
People experiencing hunger are already present in our congregations and neighborhoods, although we may not know who they are. Shame, complicated application processes and lack of information can prevent people from seeking help.
Congregations can place discreet, current information in newsletters, restrooms, gathering spaces and online about:
Nearby food pantries and meal sites
SNAP application assistance
School breakfast and lunch programs
SUN Bucks and summer meal programs
Nutrition assistance for older adults
WIC assistance for pregnant people, infants and young children
Share the Arizona Food Bank Network’s food-bank directory widely. Make it clear that seeking help is not a failure. Food is a human need, and receiving support in a difficult season is part of living in community.
Pair generosity with advocacy
Donations meet today’s need. Advocacy helps change the conditions that cause the need.
During Hunger Action Month, write or call your elected officials and urge them to:
Protect and strengthen SNAP rather than adding barriers that cause eligible people to lose assistance.
Support healthy, accessible school meals for Arizona children.
Continue investing in SUN Bucks, Double Up Food Bucks and Arizona’s food-bank infrastructure.
Protect nutrition programs for older adults, veterans, people with disabilities and families with children.
Address the high costs of housing, health care and utilities that force families to choose between food and other necessities.
Follow Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona and the ELCA Advocacy Action Center for opportunities to put faith into action on hunger and poverty.
Choose one action—and invite someone with you
Wear orange for Hunger Action Month. Share reliable information about hunger in Arizona. Give. Volunteer. Walk. Advocate. Check on an older neighbor. Thank a school nutrition worker. Ask your congregation to make hunger a year-round ministry priority.
No single action will end hunger. But every faithful action matters—and together, we can build an Arizona in which all our neighbors have the daily bread they need.
How will you take action this September?
When is Hunger Action Day?
Hunger Action Day (aka Orange Day) is a key moment during Hunger Action Month when people across the country take action to fight hunger. In 2026, it's on September 29.