How do I host a Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week event in my community?

Start by registering your event through the "Host An Event" section on hhweek.org, then plan a week of educational, service, fundraising, or advocacy activities. Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week is an annual program held at more than 700 locations, so your community event joins an existing national framework rather than starting from scratch. The site's structure — Host An Event, Volunteer, and Get the Facts — tells you the three main ways to plug in.

What the week actually is

Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week is an annual program where people come together across the country to draw attention to the problems of hunger and homelessness. Participating groups spend the week holding a series of educational, service, fundraising, and advocacy events.

The scale gives you useful context for your own planning:

Because the week is a shared national moment, your event benefits from existing attention and materials rather than needing to build awareness from zero.

Step 1: Register your event

Go to the "Host An Event" entry on hhweek.org and register your event. The site's own framing is "Bring Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week to your community. Register Your Event." Registration is the action that places your activity within the national week and makes it discoverable to people looking for ways to get involved nearby.

Step 2: Choose your activity type

The program names four categories of events. Pick based on what your group can realistically execute:

• Educational — teach your community about the causes and scale of hunger and homelessness.
• Service — direct volunteering or support work with local providers.
• Fundraising — raise money for local service providers, which is where the "millions of dollars raised" figure comes from.
• Advocacy — push for policy or systemic change.

You do not have to do all four. A single well-run event in one category is a valid participation.

Step 3: Recruit volunteers and participants

The "Volunteer" section lets people search for an Awareness Week near them and find out how to get involved. Point your local network there once your event is registered — it is the site's built-in discovery path for would-be volunteers. If you already have a volunteer base, use the same section to direct them toward your listing.

Step 4: Ground your messaging in the facts

Use the "Get the Facts" section to find out how you can help end hunger and homelessness. Pulling accurate framing from this section keeps your event's educational content consistent with the national campaign instead of relying on improvised statistics.

Common sticking points

• Skipping registration. If you do not register, your event will not appear in the national search and volunteers looking for a nearby Awareness Week will not find you.
• Overcommitting on event types. The four categories are options, not requirements. A focused service day or one fundraiser is easier to deliver well.
• Treating it as a standalone event. The value of the week is the national linkage — more than 700 locations and hundreds of thousands of participants. Reference that shared context in your outreach.

Where to start right now

1. Open hhweek.org.
2. Go to "Host An Event" and register your event.
3. Decide which of the four activity types fits your group.
4. Send your volunteers to the "Volunteer" search to find and join your listing.
5. Use "Get the Facts" to build accurate educational material.

For the broader question of what the week is, see What is Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week (hhweek.org)?.