Moms vs Hunger take on Island child hunger

A group of mothers in Prince Edward Island is holding a food drive they've called Moms vs Hunger and they hope fewer kids will go hungry as a result.

They are moms on a mission says organizer Angela Lawlor.

"We need to help out and it's a community responsibility," she said.

Lawlor says she got the idea to start the campaign after watching a program about child poverty in Canada.

The mother of three boys says she couldn't stop thinking about the fact that some kids aren't getting enough to eat.

"These kids are going to school hungry or going to school with bags of chips and how are they expected to focus and to succeed in school," she said.

She asked her friends, many of them on maternity leave right now, to help out.

Melanie Morin says the idea really made her think.

"I think as moms we tend to stick together to help each other out," she said. "I know my kids are always saying 'I'm hungry, I'm hungry' and sometimes it's just stressful because you don't have time to prepare something right away. I think that would resonate really loudly if you didn't actually have anything you could give them."

Lawlor's playpen is now a donation bin and the moms are collecting food in their neighbourhoods.

"We all realize the struggle that people go through, given the cost of living," she said. "And we just thought something needs to happen in order to break the cycle so this doesn't continue, year after year."

Collection bins have also been set up at the Charlottetown Walmart, which is good news for the local food bank.

Mike MacDonald with the Upper Room Food Bank says winter is an expensive time for families. He says costs go up and work can be tough to find.

"Way too many kids, way too many people in our community, that aren't receiving, don't have access to the food they need," he said.

The Moms vs Hunger group hopes to collect six playpens filled with food. They will be collecting all week and they hope to make it an annual event.