AUGUSTA, Maine — According to the nonprofit Feeding America, close to 180,000 Mainers are facing hunger with over 45,000 being of that number being children.
That's why radio hosts of 92 Moose and B98.5 are camping out in the parking lot of the Sam's Club in Augusta for five days, beginning on Nov. 4.
The goal is to raise food donations for the Capital Region Salvation Army to help individuals and families in Kennebec County be able to put meals on their tables.
"What we're seeing is more families and individuals coming to our food pantry for these much-needed resources," Keith Davis, who leads the Capital Region Salvation Army alongside his wife, said.
Meat, side dishes, veggies, and sweet treats are all things that seem unreachable to some Mainers.
"When you come out here to make a donation to Camp Out Hunger, you're really helping your neighbors, because hunger doesn't have a face," Davis said.
Lizzy Snyder is a host on Matt and Lizzy in the Morning on 92 Moose. She says someone donated on behalf of a loved one.
"I had a woman come in with tears in her eyes this morning, and she was donating on behalf of her son that she lost last year," Snyder said. "We all know somebody who's hungry. We all know somebody who's struggling."
The goal for this year's food drive is to fill a 53-foot trailer.
"Last year was the first year of that, and we were able to stuff it full from front to back and floor to ceiling and do over 50,000 pounds of food with a retail value north of $100,000 for this community," Davis said.
Sam's Club also contributed a donation to the cause.
"They're nice enough to let us sleep here, but they donated six-plus huge pallets of non-perishables, so that has really helped," Snyder said.
Davis says food insecurity can happen to anyone at any time.
"It could be our neighbor, it could be a kid at school that goes to school with our own kids, it could be a co-worker," Davis said.
Seeing the number of people who are more than willing to donate grow year after year has the folks camping out feeling grateful.
"It's really good to just focus on the good of humankind, and that's what we find here," Snyder says.
Camp Out Hunger is also accepting cash donations.
If you can't make it to the food drive in person, you can make a monetary donation at online by clicking here.