Monday, April 30, 2012
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning Valley has increased its lead to win the top prize of $1 million in grants in Walmart’s national Fighting Hunger Together Facebook campaign.
Supporters from Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties and elsewhere had cast 77,491 votes as of 11:10 p.m. Sunday. The contest ends at midnight today.
Hanging on to second and third place respectively Sunday were Johnson City, Tenn., with 55,518 votes and Fresno, Calif., with 25,873 votes.
The Valley surged into first place in the nation Friday and has steadily increased its lead. As of late Friday evening, the Mahoning Valley area had 49,403 votes; Johnson City, 41,953 votes, and Fresno, 22,986 votes.
“We are very grateful to everyone who is supporting the effort. It is a great opportunity to feed more hungry people in the Mahoning Valley and to show the state and nation the tenacity of its people,” said Michael Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
Voters can vote once per day for a community, and they need not live in the area for which they vote. Iberis urged Valley residents to continue voting.
To vote, Facebook users can visit Wal-Mart’s corporate Facebook page and click the logo “Fighting Hunger Together,” select Ohio, and then choose the “Youngstown-Warren, OH Area.” Votes also can be cast from the The Vindicator’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thevindicator?ref=ts.
The community that receives the most votes will receive $1 million in grants from the Walmart Foundation. The next 20 communities each will receive $50,000.