As the number of families struggling to put food on the table continues to climb, more than 40,000 people in Massachusetts took to the streets of Greater Boston yesterday for Project Bread’s 44th annual Walk for Hunger, raising an estimated $3.6 million.
The 20-mile walk, which began at the Common and went through the streets of Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown and Cambridge, is the oldest continual pledge walk in the nation and the largest one-day fundraiser to ease local hunger.
“You can’t believe that there’s still hunger in a country that’s supposed to be so rich,” said 24-time participant Monica Matthews of Mattapan, who estimated she raised nearly $7,000 in pledges this year. “I hope to do whatever I can to get rid of hunger.”
Money raised will fund grants for more than 450 food programs in the state, including food pantries, community suppers and home care organizations.