“Fight Hunger, Spark Change” is the theme of the current online voting contest that could give the San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties Food Bank in Manteca a $60,000 prize courtesy of Walmart.

“Voting every day is crucial in the Walmart contest that ends Oct. 5,” according to Second Harvest spokeswoman Jessica Vaughan. Manteca’s Second Harvest was some 500 votes behind in the voting as of Friday afternoon, she said. It appears some voters are confusing Manteca’s food bank with a dozen others with similar names and misguiding their votes.

Voting is very simple, she added.

Go to www.walmart.com/fighthunger. In the upper right corner log into Facebook. Scroll to the bottom of the page and type the state code, CA. Than look for Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties in Manteca, CA. Finally, hit vote and then share with your family and friends. Voting is allowed once each day until the October deadline.

The nationwide campaign was launched last week at food banks across the country. The initiative provides a total of $3.7 million to Feeding America and participating food banks and local partner agencies that provide hunger relief to millions of people in need of food assistance.

Food bank CEO Mike Mallory, at the Manteca site, said that through the years Walmart has been a steadfast supporter of Second Harvest in many ways. 

“We value their deep commitment to the communities that they serve in the area of hunger relief. Our hope is that our community joins Walmart in this initiative and votes in the most effective manner possible,” he stressed. “One in five people are currently suffering from food insecurity.”