Mona Rosenberg -- Stark Naked

What did you have to eat today? I bet it was delicious.

Here we are in the most prosperous nation on earth, yet over 37,000,000 people in our country were food insecure in 2019. Due to the pandemic, this number is now estimated to be more than 50 million. 

To be clear, food insecurity is defined by the inability to provide enough food for everyone in the household to live an active, healthy lifestyle. Many Americans can move in and out of food insecurity, adding an additional level of stress to households which often are already wrestling with instability and unpredictability. 

I believe our country’s children represent the shining light that is our future. Yet in excess of 17 million children will go to bed hungry tonight. This not only has devastating effects on these kids by impacting their physical and mental development, but on their academic performance and eventual economic prosperity. Ultimately, this affects all of our futures. 

My father raised me to first put food on my table, then a roof over my head. Everything else was secondary. It is for these reasons I have chosen Feeding America (of which No Kid Hungry is a beneficiary).

I am competing in Stark Naked this year for a variety of reasons. As an accomplished Veterinary Oncologist and entrepreneur, I am pretty good at setting professional goals, and then achieving them. Having been so focused on my career for 30 years, there wasn’t much focus on developing personal goals. Last year, at the ripe young age of 61, I found myself a widow.

So: time for a reset. I learned life can be short; I do my best to make every day count. We all have the choice to make every day a good day. I try to make that choice. 

I’m excited to try to get as fit as possible through this challenge. My only vice was wine and I have given this up (ok; yes, sometimes I stand in the cellar and breathe in the smell. Then back to my Soda Stream). Getting the nutrition piece right is a fun mathematical equation. Pushing  weights around requires a different kind of concentration.  

Ultimately, raising money for a worthy cause is what drives me to get as buff as possible. Every dollar we raise purchases 10 meals. Please partner with me to help Feeding America provide food today and food security tomorrow.