The South by Southwest 2009 (SXSW ‘09) Interactive Festival has come to a close. Almost no one could have anticipated that one of the most frequently discussed topics at this annual gathering of technology industry leaders would be childhood hunger. But it was, thanks to a number of high profile presenters and hard work of many different people.

With the army of people wearing Pledge to End Hunger stickers and public requests for support at Gary Vaynerchuk’s core conversation Q&A session, Chris Brogan’s two panel sessions, the Social Media for Social Good panel, Guy Kawasaki & Chris Anderson’s keynote presentation, and a high-profile blogging panel, we helped raise the issue of childhood hunger in America above the noise and to the attention of thousands of highly connected people.

While we fell short of our goal of 5,000 people to sign The Pledge by the end of SXSW, we did succeed in getting over 4,000 people to say they will help us end childhood hunger in America. Of these, 1,500 came in just the last 48 hours of SXSW.

“Our main goal was always to help raise awareness for childhood hunger in America,” shared Scott Henderson, campaign manager. “Even though we did not hit our signature goal, we far exceeded our goals for how prominent a part the Pledge to End Hunger played in this year’s SXSW.”

In recognition of this success and out of appreciation for our efforts, Tyson Foods has decided to donate the fourth semi-truck of food it had promised as part of the 5,000 pledge challenge.

“We are overwhelmed by everyone’s enthusiasm for helping us spread the word about the Pledge to End Hunger,” stated Ed Nicholson from Tyson Foods. “We couldn’t have been successful in breaking through the noise of SXSW without the hard work and effort of everyone who pitched in with their Twitter, Facebook, and personal requests for support.”

With three more semi-trucks of food to give away (in addition to the one already delivered to Austin), everyone’s energy and enthusiasm will now shift to rallying their communities to ensure their state is one of the top three states by Friday, March 20, at 4 pm ET.