Volunteers brave freezing winds

For the first year in Carson City, the Salvation Army has partnered with Feed the Children to offer food and toiletries to 400 needy families in Carson City and Douglas County.

Three semi tractor-trailers full of food and essentials were delivered to Northern Nevada on Thursday to help 1,200 families in the region. A similar distribution in Reno on Thursday benefited 800 families.

The effort was part of Feed The Children's Americans Feeding Americans Caravan, which has helped more than 220,000 families across the country since it began in 2009.

Helton said dozens of volunteers, including members of the Carson City Fire Department, Greater Nevada Credit Union and Southwest Gas, braved the freezing winds and looming snowstorm to help.

She said the families selected came from the Salvation Army's holiday assistance program and referrals from the Carson City School District and Douglas County Health and Human Services.

Each family received a 25-pound box of food, a

10-pound box of personal care items and a box of Avon products. The boxes are designed to help a family for up to one week.

"Many of the recipients on our Americans Feeding Americans Caravan were considered middle class before the economic downturn and are now struggling," Tony Sellars, spokesperson for Feed The Children, said in a news release.

According to information released by Feed the Children, the number of impoverished children (97,769) in Nevada could fill Mackay Stadium three times.

Founded in 1979, Feed The Children is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Okla., that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty or natural disasters. In FY 2009, Feed The Children distributed more than 111 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally. Since its founding, the organization has reached out to help those in need around the globe.

For more information or to donate, visit www.feedthe

children.org.