Crisis: Hunger hits 1 in 4 Arizona kids; Kitchen on the Street aims to help

PHOENIX - An Arizona organization is getting national attention for its efforts to eradicate hunger.

The epidemic is truly shocking. One in four Arizona children live in poverty, and according to the National Center for Children in Poverty, nearly 15 million children live in poverty nationwide.

ABC News reports that number has risen 20 percent since 2000 because of high unemployment and foreclosures.

So what's being done to fight it? Phoenix residents Lisa and Vince Scarpinato run the nonprofit Kitchen on the Street , which works to provide an entire weekend's worth of nonperishable meals to schoolchildren in need.

The Scarpinato's story is getting a national audience from ABC News later this evening. The network is launching a series to examine the growing number of families in the United States who go hungry.

Volunteers from the group assemble "bags of hope," and distribute them to nearly 800 children in Arizona and Texas each week.

"We're parents," Lisa Scarpinato told ABCNews.com . "And we just imagined the devastation of a parent if they felt like they couldn't feed their child. We had people in the community who were out of work, or had family members who were sick, and we knew we could help. We aren't overly rich, so we knew, at first, that we could at least help one kid, so we did, and that just grew."

According to ABC News, Kitchen on the Street now operates in 14 schools in Arizona and Texas, funded in part by government grants but predominantly by individuals and local businesses.

For $25 a month, Kitchen on the Street can provide one child with five meals, snacks and breakfast bars each weekend of that month, all packed in discreet backpacks and duffle bags.

See the complete Kitchen on the Street story tonight on ABC's World News at 5:30pm. You can also read more about the group on ABCNews.com.

The story is part of an ABC News series launching today to examine the growing number of families in the United States who go hungry.

As little as $10 can help feed a child for nearly an entire month. Because of that, ABC News is also launching a text-to-donate program for all inspired to help those in need. If viewers text “F-E-E-D” (3-3-3-3) to 50555 a $10 donation will be given to Feeding America, a leading domestic hunger relief organization, to help get food to children and families in communities across the country.

For more coverage, visit the ABCNews.com section, Hunger at Home: Crisis in America