Country music singer Kellie Pickler recently partnered with ConAgra Foods Foundation and Feeding America to spread awareness of child hunger in the United States, launching the Hunger-Free Summer campaign. In the midst of the campaign, she is touring and promoting her newest album, 100 Proof. I caught up with Kellie to talk a little bit about the campaign and her critically-acclaimed album:
OLOGY: I’ve read a little bit about Hunger-Free Summer, but can you tell us about the campaign?
Kellie Pickler: Yes, the campaign is called, like you said, Hunger-Free Summer, and it’s all focused on helping to provide meals for children during the summer time – children that normally depend on the school meals that they provide when they’re in school. They’re not guaranteed a meal during the summer time, and I was really shocked to know that 1 in 5 kids in America have to worry with the burden of not knowing when or where their next meal is going to come from. This is fixable; we can fix this problem. There’s no reason why we can’t. I’m partnering up with ConAgra Foods and Feeding America, and we have the Hunger-Free Summer campaign going on where you can go to ConAgra Foods Facebook page and download this activity booklet called The Hunger Avengers, and it’s absolutely free. It doesn’t cost anything at all except one second of your time, one click on your mouse, and you would provide a meal for a child that might not be provided with a meal had you not done that. So it’s really an easy way to get involved and help spread awareness on something that is very important. These kids can’t fend for themselves because they’re kids – they’re not supposed to. So it is really really a great thing and an easy way to make a big difference in someone’s life. So our main goal is to just direct as many people as we can to ConAgra Foods Facebook page, and to download the activity booklet, and also if you share with your other friends on Facebook, that would be another meal. So you could end up providing two meals for a child. It’s really a great way to educate your kids on other kids and how they can help. I think it’s great when you have peers helping peers – kids helping kids, especially this time in age with all the bullying and everything. It’s hard for kids in school now. This can be kids being positive and doing good things and helping their peers.
Many people assume that child hunger is only an issue in third world countries. Did it come to a surprise to you that it’s also such a significant issue right here in the United States?
Yeah, I definitely was surprised because there’s not as much awareness out there. There are not a lot of lights that shine on this. You turn on the TV and you see all the commercials for third world countries, and you know what? We should help them as well! And we should also take care of the kids here in our country, too. Sometimes it’s the places you would least expect that are hurting the most. 1 in 5? That’s millions of kids here in the United States that have to worry about whether or not they get a meal. That’s not OK. And we’re such a great country. There’s nothing that we cannot do. There’s nothing we can’t do. We can fix this problem!
We can. The fact that you’re helping with this campaign and trying to spread the word about such an important issue is really inspirational.
I was really excited when the opportunity came along!
Earlier this year, your newest album, 100 Proof, debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart! What was your reaction to that?
Well, I was shooting for the #1 spot, so I’ll let it slide (laughs). The first few albums came out at 1, but 2 is OK if you get beat by Tim McGraw. That’s a good problem to have.
People.com deemed 100 Proof your “most potent effort yet.” How would you compare this album to your other two?
It’s Kellie. You know? This album is me and I have a different producer, and I really got to discover the artist in myself making this album, working with Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten. They helped me find the artist in myself and embrace that.
You recently got the opportunity to sing God Bless America at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, right? How exciting was that?
Oh, that was really fun. Lots of people there and it’s a big game, you know. Baseball is the American sport!
Your music video for “Tough” draws from your real-life relationship with your father. How did it feel to tell that story?
Well, I think my story was pretty – you know, it’s no secret, seeing that I was on American Idol. Everyone kind of knows about that. And there’s a lot of kids out there going through very similar situations and there are a lot of parents going through that and it was just a really great way to just – I mean, country music is real, it’s about real – behind every country song is a story about somebody’s life, and what they’ve been through, and what they’re going through now. It’s just real music. It felt like the natural thing to do: telling my story and hoping that in doing that, it helps other people find closure in whatever it is that they’re going through.
You just returned from your USO Tour, entertaining the troops overseas, didn’t you?
Yes, ma’am!
What does that experience mean to you?
Oh, it’s wonderful! I come from a military family, so to be able to go over there and take a little piece to them, it’s really great. I love doing it. This is my fifth tour, and on this trip, we went to Kuwait and Afghanistan, and you always come back, I think, a little bit of a better person. There are just so many things we take for granted. It’s easy to take for granted, things that are there all the time. You have those things taken away – it’s just kind of like people, you know, sometimes you don’t know how much someone means to you until they’re not there anymore. And that’s the same with freedom. Sometimes you don’t know how good you got it until those freedoms and luxuries are taken away.
Don't forget to check out the ConAgra Foods Facebook page and help feed a child during the summer!
---
Follow on Ology: Jaymie Bailey | MusicOlogy
Follow on Twitter: @jaymie_bailey | @MusicOlogy
Comments (1)