The county’s leading hunger relief and food rescue organization, Feeding San Diego, announced the release of its new comic book “Hunger Action Herios Unite!” Now available on the nonprofits website, the comic book features two characters, Halter and Demeter, developed by students in an art contest held by FSD.
Out of nearly 200 submissions throughout the county, two students who won the contest and earned a spot in the comic book were Aiden Prior who created Hunger Halter from Encinitas and attends Sunset High School, and Southwestern College Chula Vista student Sirenna Ascencio who created Demeter. The hunger action heroes were part of the Hunger Hero Art Contest held in 2022, a collaboration between FSD and Comic-Con Museum to rally around FSD’s mission to end hunger through food rescue while reducing the stigma associated with attending food distributions. The characters were brought to life by costume designer Allan Lavigne, head of The Bronze Armory Studios. The heroes first debuted at Comic-Con 2022 with the characters played by actors Jason Zlatkus and Summer Moore.
“We created the hunger action heroes to leverage the power of popular culture to address a pressing social justice issue and inspire social good. We knew that by inviting the community to get involved and collaborating with the Comic- Con Museum we could uncover heroes who could support our organization and the community at large,” said Dana Williams, director or marketing & communications at Feeding San Diego in a press release. “With inflation, the problem of food insecurity is heightened. There is no better time than now to educate the public, especially our youth, about the urgent need to support hunger relief organizations like Feeding San Diego and inspire them to become a part of the solution.”
“Hunger Action Heroes Unite!” is an inspirational story written by Dr. Janina Scarlet, clinical psychologist and creator of “Superhero Therapy,” with art by Thom Zahler. Aimed at young readers in elementary and middle school, the book tells the story of journalist Julie Wilson, who channels her feelings of distress into action when she is given the opportunity to transform into Demeter and help fight hunger and food waste across the country. Together with Hunger Halter, the two heroes rescue food and get it to people in need.
The book is now available to purchase for $6.99 on Feeding San Diego’s merch store. Proceeds from sales of the book will support Feeding San Diego’s critical hunger-relief and food rescue programs.
On July 27, volunteers will celebrate the release of the new comic book at Feeding San Diego alongside Hunger Halter and Demeter at FSD’s distribution center in conjunction with Comic-Con 2024. On Friday, the Hunger Action Heroes will hold a panel discussion at Comic- Con.
“Hunger Action Heroes Unite!” is now on sale at FSD’s website for $6.99. Visit shop. feedingsandiego.org.
