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.

Here in Nevada, hunger is present in every community—rural and urban, northern and southern. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada reports that one in five Nevada children faces hunger, and it serves approximately 150,000 neighbors each month through its network of partner programs. In Southern Nevada, Three Square Food Bank continues to mobilize the community around food insecurity and access to healthy food.

Food banks and pantries are responding with extraordinary care. But charitable food alone cannot end hunger. Hunger Action Month calls us to offer immediate help while also asking why so many households must choose between groceries, rent, utilities, health care, and other basic needs.

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.”

Ways to take action in Nevada this September

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 perfect opportunity to connect service with hunger ministry.

Congregations might:

• Volunteer together at a food bank, pantry, community garden, or meal program.
• Collect the specific foods requested by a local pantry.
• Assemble emergency food boxes or weekend food bags for students.
• 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 food-distribution staff.

Before planning a food drive, ask the receiving organization what it needs most. Often, a financial gift enables a food bank to purchase more food—and exactly the right food—than an individual shopper can provide for the same amount.

Find food or volunteer opportunities near you

• Food Bank of Northern Nevada: Serving Northern Nevada and the eastern Sierra through partner pantries, mobile distributions, and community programs.
• Three Square Food Bank: Serving Southern Nevada, with food-distribution, volunteer, fundraising, and advocacy opportunities.
• Nevada 211: A statewide directory for food pantries, meal sites, housing support, utility assistance, and more. Call 211 or 1-866-535-5654, or text your ZIP code to 898211.
• Nevada Department of Human Services Food Assistance: Information about SNAP and other state food-assistance programs.

Food banks need dependable volunteers after September, too. Consider making hunger ministry a monthly or quarterly commitment rather than a one-time event.

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 applications, transportation barriers, and lack of information can keep people from seeking help.

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
• WIC support for pregnant people, infants, and young children
• Summer meals and SUN Bucks
• Nutrition assistance for older adults

Share Nevada 211 widely, and make it clear: 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, contact your elected officials and urge them to:

• Protect and strengthen SNAP rather than creating barriers that cause eligible people to lose assistance.
• Support healthy, accessible school meals for Nevada children.
• Protect nutrition programs for older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and families with children.
• Invest in food-bank infrastructure and reliable access to nutritious food in rural and urban communities.
• Address the high costs of housing, health care, and utilities that force families to choose between food and other necessities.

Follow Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada and the ELCA Advocacy Action Center for ways to put faith into action.

Choose one action—and invite someone with you

Wear orange. Share reliable information. Give. Volunteer. 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 a Nevada in which all our neighbors have the daily bread they need.

Hunger Action Day—also known as Orange Day—is September 29, 2026.