On Saturday, September 22, Feeding South Dakota will host a FREE family friendly event to create awareness around the issue of hunger in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and across South Dakota. The movie event is being provided to the public for free through the support of First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard.

Sioux Falls: At 7:30 pm, the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be shown at Fawick Park, in the same format as the Downtown Moonlight Movies series that runs during the summer months in Sioux Falls. Downtown Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation are partnering with Feeding South Dakota to make the event possible.

Rapid City: At 6:30 pm, the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be shown at Main Street Square, and Movies Under the Stars is partnering with Feeding South Dakota to make the event possible.

Feeding South Dakota is showing the film as part of Hunger Action Month, a national movement, which takes place throughout the month of September, and encourages communities to take action and join in the fight to eliminate hunger. The movie features an eccentric wannabe scientist, Flint Lockwood, who lives in Swallow Falls; a town suffering from economic hardship, whose only source of food is sardines. Flint invents a miraculous device designed to solve the world hunger crisis by turning water into food, and thus making food fall from the sky.

The event will feature a Public Service Announcement created by Feeding America that connects the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to the REAL issue of hunger. In South Dakota, 1 in every 8 individuals suffers from food insecurity, meaning they lack access to food on a regular basis. Even more staggering is that 1 in every 5 children in South Dakota are at risk of going hungry.

The event will provide an opportunity for families to learn about the issue of hunger in a fun, family setting. All are welcome and are encouraged to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the movie. Food collection bins will be available if individuals want to bring a canned good or other nonperishable food item to donate to Feeding South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Food Pantry. This is not a requirement to attend the event, but is only provided as an opportunity and teachable moment for children.

While Feeding South Dakota cannot make food fall from the sky, the organization does harness donated food locally and nationally and distribute that food to individuals in need. In 2011, Feeding South Dakota distributed 12.2 million pounds of food across the state, providing over 10.1 million meals and serving an estimated 100,000 individuals in need. Almost half of clients served were children and infants.

For more information about Feeding South Dakota, Hunger Action Month, and the FREE family movie event, please visit: www.feedingsouthdakota.org/hunger-in-sd/hunger-action-month/

More From KYBB-FM / B102.7