Apr 12, 2009 3:48 PM

America’s egg farmers continue to play an active role in local communities by teaming up with Feeding America to donate more than 12 million eggs to food banks across the nation. The eggs were donated to nearly 100 local food banks spanning 95 cities in 35 states across the United States beginning March 18 and leading up to Easter on April 12.

According to a recent Feeding America study, emergency food assistance nationwide is up roughly 30 percent compared with one year ago.

This marks the second year in a row United Egg Producers and Feeding America, a national food bank network, are teaming up to help ensure America’s food banks are well-stocked with nutrient-dense eggs. The nationwide partnership will help the 36 million people (12% of the population) at risk of hunger in the United States, including more than seven million families (9.8%) and more than 13 million children (18%) under the age of 18.

Stretched out shell to shell (each egg is approximately 2½ inches long), the more than 12 million donated eggs, or 42 tractor trailers worth—each truck contains 800 cases, or 288,000 eggs—would equal 473 miles of eggs.