Help fund local charities with a click

The following write-up originally appeared on my Examiner page. 

Today's article is about a different, but no less important kind of green, the kind that comes in the form of donations. A Facebook voting contest sponsored by retailing giant, WalMart, has pledged to bring $1 million to the winning city's charities and $50,000 to the next 20 runners-up in a unique Fighting Hunger Together campaign. 

As of 7:30 a.m. this morning, Youngstown-Warren, Ohio area had taken the lead to receive $1 million donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and Catholic Charities Diocsese of Youngstown. 

According to a report released by The Brookings Institution last November, the Youngstown metropolitan statistical area has some of the most densely concentrated poverty in the nation. 

The nominated cities were selected based on regional unemployment rates as a criteria because according to WalMart, 

 Unemployment plays a role in an individual or family’s ability to put food on the table. In places where unemployment rates are highest, the food banks, soup kitchens and other hunger fighting organizations are being accessed more than ever to help Americans make ends meet.

Votes can be cast once every 24 hours and the winning community and the 20 runner-up communities will be announced on April 30, 2012. Organizations selected to receive grant dollars to fight hunger in the winning communities will be announced May 15, 2012. Anyone with a Facebook account can cast a vote the community of their choosing. 

As a personal aside, regardless of your opinions about the contest sponsor, I urge you to consider the good the money can do for an area that has been struggling for years. Our area's charities could really use the boost.