OGDEN -- Want to help feed the 18.8 percent of people in Ogden who go hungry every day? Then get online and vote.
The Walmart Foundation launched the "Fighting Hunger Together" Facebook campaign last month.
It has listed 100 cities across the nation facing the worst hunger hardships. Ogden is one of the highest in the nation with an 18.8 percent food hardship, compared with the national average of 9.2 percent.
Anyone can log on to the website at fightinghunger.walmart.com and click on the "Like" button for their community. The city with the most votes will receive $1 million. The next five in the vote will each receive $100,000.
"Up until this week, Ogden was in 15th place, but a 10,000-vote increase Tuesday night bumped the city up to fifth place, and the votes are still coming in," said Jessica Pugh, public relations manager for the Utah Food Bank.
The voting ends at 5 p.m. Friday. The winners will be announced Wednesday on Facebook.
Salt Lake City is currently in the No. 2 position, Pugh said.
"We are really excited about this campaign," said Jason Allred, store manager of Super Walmart in Riverdale.
"We're part of this community, and we want to give back, but we are depending solely on the public to get on and vote."
If Ogden wins $100,000, the money will go to Catholic Community Services and the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank.
"That would be so exciting," said Marci Valdez, director of Catholic Community Services and the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank. "It will give us an opportunity to really expand our services and bring us back up to speed."
Valdez said Ogden has seen a 30 percent increase in the need for food each year over the past three years. With the slow economy, she said, all nonprofit organizations are struggling.
"We are able to provide, but this would really give us a leg up," she said. "Ogden's hunger problem is twice as high as the national average. It's a huge issue here.
"But our community is so generous. Last week, we had a man come in who was recently unemployed. Because of the generosity of our community, we were able to give him a food basket as well as a holiday basket, so we know Ogden has it in them to make us one of the winners of this campaign."
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