Sponsored Post: Help Your Favorite Charity Win $1000 from ableBanking

As a food writer, I often feel guilty that this thing that I treat as a luxury, an adventure, and a novelty is something that others have to treat as a need that is barely met. While I write fluff pieces on food, others are barely managing to get the sustenance they need to survive. When ableBanking contacted me about promoting their charitable giving contest to support Massachusetts organizations, I thought it would be a great way for the food blogging community to throw support behind fighting hunger by nominating one of Massachusetts' worthy food-related causes.

ableBanking, an online-only savings bank with a huge interest in charitable giving, is launching soon. In the meantime, they're running a contest through January 31: anyone can nominate any Massachusetts nonprofit, and the top five nominated groups will each receive $1000, an amount that can do a huge amount of good for a small organization. Nominate your favorite Massachusetts nonprofit here. I'm nominating Project Bread - the Walk for Hunger Inc., because while I'm grateful to be enjoying the luxury of food from a food blogger's perspective, I want to do what I can to ensure that others are not going hungry.

More about ableBanking:
Launching as an online-only bank gets rid of a lot of the overhead that brick-and-mortar banks deal with, freeing up funds for better things, like great rates for customers and donations to charity. ableBanking is doing both of those things. When you sign up for an account, ableBanking gives $25 to a charity of your choice. Each year, ableBanking matches a portion of your savings with another charitable donation. Pretty neat, right? To learn more, check out their blog post on the topic, or take a look at this October 2011 article in The Boston Globe.

Connect with ableBanking on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The Twitter hashtag for this contest is #ablegiving.

More about Project Bread:
"Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts." It's an important mission, considering that over 250,000 Massachusetts households are at risk for hunger. Project Bread strives to be a thought leader, coming up with scalable solutions towards ending hunger, and raises millions of dollars through its yearly Walk for Hunger, the oldest continual pledge walk in the country. The organization supports 400 emergency food programs in Massachusetts (such as soup kitchens and food banks) and fields a hotline, FoodSource, to help hungry people know where to turn.

Connect with Project Bread on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

More food-related charity opportunities:
One of ableBanking's featured partners, the Greater Boston Food Bank, has declared every January "Super Hunger Month," and it's filled with opportunities for giving. For example, on Wednesday, January 25th, the Four Seasons is hosting the Super Hunger Chef fundraiser for the sixth year in a row; local chefs including Jody Adams, Brooke Vosika, Michael Schlow, and Tim Cushman will treat attendees to an "international culinary tour." Tickets are $125; proceeds benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank. Additionally, Super Hunger Brunch takes place on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th.

In addition to Project Bread and the Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston has many other food-related organizations that could use our support, such as Future Chefs, The Women's Lunch Place, The Friday Night Supper Program, and The Food Project.

I hope you'll take a minute - that's all it'll take - to nominate your favorite local charity for this contest. $1000 can make a big difference. And I'd love to hear about which charity you're nominating; please feel free to share your thoughts and stories in the comments below, and please share this information with the rest of the Massachusetts blogosphere and general community.

Disclosure: I am receiving monetary compensation from ableBanking to promote this contest.