Sodexho Marriot Food Services will host a food drive this week at Saint Mary's. All donations will go to the North Central Indiana Food Bank.

Canned foods can be left at the Noble Family Dining Hall or The Crossings snack bar from April 9 through 15. Sodexho Marriot will match all food donations received.

The food services organization will hold the drive in response to the problem of hunger in America. According to Foodchain and Second Harvest, two of the nation's leading hunger relief organizations, one in four children does not eat regular meals each day because of the lack of food in their homes. There has also been a 40 to 55 percent increase in requests for emergency food assistance in the past year.

More than 25 percent of all the food produced for human consumption is wasted each year in America, roughly 96 billion pounds of food, according to the agencies. On average, the working poor spend 60 percent of their monthly income on shelter, leaving little for utilities, food and health care.

This is the second year of the Sodexho Marriot food drive at Saint Mary's.

"We would like to get as many people involved as possible," said Kelly Koschnick, human resources assistant for the organization.

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