Walmart Hunger Games

True stories of hunger and food insecurity from Walmart workers.

[walmarthungergames-blog]

Margaret Hooten, Walmart store 2418, Placerville, CA

[walmarthungergames-blog]

[walmarthungergames-blog]

Martha Sellars from store 2110 in Paramount, CA began to skip meals to save money and started eating cheap noodles as much as she could. She dropped 60lbs. Two months behind on her rent, she often eats the cheapest food she can find. Her diet consists of PB&J and lots of noodles. There are times when she can’t even afford staples like milk. She says she is afraid to see a doctor, because she knows her diet is so poor. “I want to know if the Waltons are aware that their workers are in poverty and if they care. They live up here and we live down here. They have more than enough to share.”

[walmarthungergames-blog]

At my store, they're holding a bake sale and asking us to bring baked goods to help make money to help other Walmart workers. (Franfort, Indiana)

[walmarthungergames-blog]

A throwback to Valentines Day when Walmart workers asked their managers to give them hours and "have a heart." Pictured Derek Sanders, Walmart store 2989, Fremont, California

[walmarthungergames-blog]

[walmarthungergames-blog]

An Ohio food drive for Walmart workers. 

[walmarthungergames-blog]

Diana Tigon, Walmart store 5416, Arlington, Texas

[walmarthungergames-blog]

Saria McCollum, Walmart store 1495, Dayton, Ohio: Often I have to skip lunch because I don't have money for anything to eat, nor do I have enough to buy a lunchbox to even put food in a lunchbox because I've needed to pay my bills.

[walmarthungergames-blog]

Ricki Hahn, Walmart store 3783, Dayton, Ohio: It's difficult to stock the aisles in grocery while watching customers load up carts of food, and then to be called to the cashier and ring up hundreds of dollars of food while I have to count pennies in order to afford to eat.  This past week I overdrew my bank account just so I could buy eggs for breakfast after work. 

[walmarthungergames-blog]

From last year, but unfortunately still holds true after a Walmart in Oklahoma decided to run another food drive asking Walmart associates to donate to each other instead of paying a living wage: http://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-employee-food-drive-2014-11#ixzz3JiHUhCiK

[walmarthungergames-blog]

A letter from Walmart worker La'Randa Jackson to Walmart heir Alice Walton

Dear Ms. Walton, 

I'm writing to you because it hurts to see the pain in my younger brothers’ eyes when we can’t afford food to fill their stomachs.  

Sure, they see that I'm working hard, taking the bus an hour each way to get to work at Walmart. Even though they know that things are tight right now, that our mom is often too sick to work, they just can't understand why last year on Thanksgiving they didn’t get turkey and gravy like other kids their age. 

It's not just Thanksgiving dinner that's an issue; it's dinner every night. 

My food stamps help cover the groceries, but these are growing boys, and after they eat, there's often not enough. We go to the food bank (actually, I think maybe you gave a donation there) to try to keep them fed. 

I skip a lot of meals too. The most important thing is food for the babies, then my younger brothers. Then, if there’s enough, my mom and I can eat.

You may know, I went to your house in New York City, the one next to the park, to try to talk about this. I went there to deliver a different letter. One from Walmart workers across the country who think you can and should pay $15 an hour and provide full-time work.

Ms. Walton, my co-workers and I don’t want your food bins. We work hard and we don’t want your charity.  

We want you and your family to improve pay and hours for Walmart workers like me so that we can buy our own groceries. We want fair pay for the work that we do to help your family add $8.6 million a day to your $150 billion in wealth.  

Full-time hours and a minimum of $15 an hour is surely fair for the work that we do to build your wealth and the company's $16 billion in profits.  

Ms. Walton, you can decide whether or not we’re paid enough to make sure our families don’t go hungry.

Thank you for reading my letter, 

LaRanda Jackson Walmart store 1521 Cincinnati, Ohio

[walmarthungergames-blog]

From Aubretia Edick, Walmart store 5278, Chicopee, MA: 

I was in the break room sitting with a few of my co-workers, and yet again had no lunch. Everyone I was with had their lunch with them. One of my co-workers (another friend) told me her husband made too much for her, and asked me if I would help her eat it. I said no, and she told me she was going to throw it away if I didn't help her. So, of course, I ate half her sandwich. I realized afterwards that she really just felt bad for me, and wanted me to eat.

[walmarthungergames-blog]

This is William Carrero from store 1960 in Tampa, Florida. After 3 years at Walmart he makes $9/hour. In the morning Williams eats a small breakfast and then he tries to sleep the rest of the day before going to work in the evening so he doesn't have to think about food. 

[walmarthungergames-blog]

[walmarthungergames-blog]

For Cantare, she is juggling more expenses with less money, neglecting one bill to pay for another and living in an apartment with another Walmart associate that she still has trouble paying. This summer her car was repossessed. She walks 20 minutes in the suburbs to get to work so that she doesn’t have to rely on and pay for the unreliable public transit in her area—something that helps her save a few bucks per week.   Even with these sacrifices she still experiences hunger. Last month, she only had $6 left after bills to find things to eat for the remainder of the month. She ended up digging into her cabinets for older non-perishable food staples like Ramen. Occasionally she gets financial assistance for food from family and friends, but now she is in the process of applying for food stamps and housing another trend that is becoming all too familiar for low-wage workers trying to eat and have a place to stay day-to-day.