As part of various events and activities leading up to a statewide Voices for Action Poverty Summit Nov. 13 in Detroit, the Voices for Action Network has announced a Take the Michigan Food Stamp Challenge.

This effort calls for community leaders and volunteers to live on food stamp budgets from Monday Oct. 13 through Friday Oct. 17. The goals are:

• Increase public awareness of the challenges and perceptions of participants in the food stamp program.
• Increase monetary and food donations to Michigan food banks.
• Increase the number of volunteers for Michigan soup kitchens.
• Obtain a first-hand experience of eating at a soup kitchen and hearing the challenges of Michigan citizens.

Here is the pledge form (pdf) and here is the campaign blog.

I won’t be signing up to participate in the food stamp grocery plan because there are too many complications in our home during the designated week. But I will get a bag of groceries set aside for a local food pantry.

In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to provide grocery budget-busting information for those of you who are on food stamp budgets – whether to support the campaign or because that’s real life right now. News headlines, public service announcements and time-sensitive information go in the blog feed, and tips and links can be found in my grocery sidebar.