Struggling families get no vacation from hunger

By Keith Williamson 7:56 PM Tuesday, June 21, 2011

“Lost business and lost my family. Became a part-time Dad. Selling everything I own just to pay bills. I know there are those worse off than me, but why should there be?”

This is just one comment by a food pantry client documented in Stories and Faces of Hunger, a project sponsored by the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks.

Clients were asked to write comments about their personal situations, anonymously, on paper plates. These then became part of a display that documents the growing issue of hunger in our state and our local communities.

“I started going to the pantries when I was diagnosed with cancer. I’ve worked since I was 11 years old and I am now 50. I’ve always been very active. Without the pantry, I would be lost.”

Food is such a basic human need that it is sometimes hard to grasp that hunger is a real problem in America today. And the face of hunger continues to change.

Long gone are stereotypes of generational poverty. The majority of people in need today have always been good providers for their families until the economy turned their lives upside down.

When faced with hard financial choices, food has become an optional choice for many, especially as prices soar due to rising fuel prices. Everyone has had to “do more with less.”

Parents have been forced to become dependent on free and reduced-price school lunch programs to provide meals to children, making summer break a challenging time.

While those of us not facing these day-to-day obstacles may be planning vacations or enjoying the warmer months, many of our struggling neighbors, far too embarrassed to admit their need for help, spend their summers visiting pantries or soup kitchens searching for food to survive.

“I see families every day in tears because their houses are being foreclosed or they don’t have enough food for their kids. This is the middle class?”

The facts are staggering. “The State of Poverty in Ohio 2011: A Path to Recovery,” by the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, presented the following data. On a scale of 1-50 (with 50 being the worst in the nation), Ohio ranks:

• 47th for children under the age of five at daily risk of hunger.

• 40th for high poverty among veterans.

• 42nd for those in poverty with some college or an associate’s degree.

• 45th in “underwater” mortgages (where homes are worth less than owed).

• 50th in income growth over the past 50 years.

More pointedly, in Ohio:

• Four of 10 children (eight out of 10 in Springfield City Schools) depend on a free or reduced-price lunch to get a meal.

• Fifty-two percent of emergency food clients have had to choose between paying for food or utilities.

• More than 20,000 grandparents (1 out of 5) raising grandchildren live in poverty.

• In 2009, 55,320 families — plus 22,877 individuals in non-family households — remained in poverty, despite at least one individual working full-time all year.

• About 66,500 military veterans live in poverty, including 25,600 with disabilities.

• One-third of homeowners with incomes under $30,000 owe more on their home than what it is worth.

In our three-county service area (Clark, Champaign and Logan), 72 agencies operating 90 programs depend on the food bank to source, acquire and distribute food to address these hunger issues.

An increasing number of people are seeking out their services for the first time because they can no longer get by without assistance. These agencies, mostly faith-based and representing all religions, understand this need and make it their mission to provide hunger relief.

We hear about state and federal budget issues daily. Although we are in favor of fiscal responsibility, most of the proposed cuts are at the expense of programs such as food banks, which serve the most vulnerable people.

That is why your locally operated Second Harvest Food Bank, one of 12 state members of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks and one of the 205 national members of Feeding America, needs your help now more than ever.

Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to our summer campaign. You can do so online at donate2help.org; by mailing a check or money order to Springfield News/Sun Hunger Relief, P.O. Box 1408, Springfield, OH 45501; or by bringing collected non-perishable foods to the food bank warehouse at 701 East Columbia Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Donations, especially during the summer, allow the food bank to reach out further to locate donations, purchase basic product, and provide these foods to agencies. As the demand increases, so must the supply.

Every dollar donated can help us provide four meals to a hungry child, senior or adult. Our projected summer need is almost an additional 160,000 meals.

You can truly make a difference in the life of someone you may never meet by simply providing the means to feed their body and soul. Every meal provided comes with the one major ingredient many have been missing: HOPE!

Keith Williamson is regional director, Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champaign, and Logan Counties.

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