Last week, The Cleveland Daily Banner featured an article about our involvement as a blog ambassador with ConAgra Foods and the Child Hunger Ends Here Campaign. Ya’ll know we are passionate about giving to others, especially since couponing affords us the opportunity to “Save Big so we can Give Bigger.”
I always knew there were needs in my community, however since I have been involved in the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign my eyes have been opened. Nationwide, 1 in 5 children are food insecure meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. In my county, the need is even greater 1 in 3 children.
Wow. 1 in 3 children where I live don’t know where their next meal is coming from?
I can’t imagine, my son wants a snack between snacks……….
Not only do I think it’s important to include my kids each time we pick out an item to donate, I think it’s important that they know someone sitting right next to them may not know where their next meal is coming from.
I want them to learn empathy, and the importance of looking beyond themselves to see the needs of others. If I don’t teach them, their view will be based on what they see with their eyes. To them, hunger and needy will be those on the side of the interstate holding a sign. It will be the homeless, laying down on a park bench.
Reality. 1 in 3 children where my children play, go to church, participate in sports, etc. are hungry. It’s up to me to teach them, it’s up to me to show them what compassion for others looks like, it’s up to me to show them we can help, we can make a difference.
How? It starts with awareness. I challenge you, to talk to your kids about child hunger. Don’t know where to start? Find out what the stats are in your community. Educate yourself.
Did you know……..
Children who struggle with hunger face additional problems, such as:
- Slower growth and inhibited brain development
- More illnesses, including stomachaches, headaches, colds, ear infections and fatigue
- Greater susceptibility to obesity and its harmful health consequences
- Lower concentration and alertness in school
- Lower academic achievement
Stats – from Consequenses of Child Hunger
Here’s how to find the child hunger stats in your county:
- Click here, then look for the image above – click “See how many children are affected in your county.”
- Click your state to see the overall stats. I live in TN – 17.6% of children are food insecure. Right around the corner in GA 19.9% are food insecure.
- Hover your mouse over the county you live in, talk to your kids about this number.
You can make a difference by purchasing participating ConAgra products at your local grocery store. Look for the push pin logo, and enter the code online at Child Hunger Ends Here. For every code entered, ConAgra will donate the equivalent of one meal. Codes will be accepted up to a maximum of 3 million meal donations or until 8/31/2012. If you missed our previous post about Child Hunger Ends Here click the following links here and here.
You can also follow the discussion at www.facebook.com/ConAgraFoods, or tweet along by following www.twitter.com/ConAgraFoods and using #ChildHunger.
I am a blogger correspondent for ConAgra’s Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. Opinions and experiences shared here are my own.
First, I want to say that I totally agree with this article. I think everyone should do their part with food donation throughout the year and not just at Thanksgiving. That’s why I like that the post office does their food drive in spring.
I would like to add this though: Having worked in children’s emergency shelters in Hamilton County, I have to wonder how many of these numbers correlate with children in social services or those that need to be. Some of the “food insecurity” has to come from mom/dad not providing meals/snacks because they don’t care or they drink and smoke all the food money. Maybe they are just not trying to get the aid they need from the food bank or govt. aid.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that responsible adults are all fretting about where their next meal will come from. Those people will do just about anything to provide for their children like ask for aid from organizations, church and food banks.
Food insecurity means that they don’t know where their next meal is coming from so any child hunger program would need to include at least two components, in my opinion: 1) Making sure the food gets directly to the children and 2) Making sure it is food the children can prepare themselves.
Every year I help an organization deliver toys and food to 100+ families for Christmas. In those food boxes are canned goods along with flour, cornmeal, coffee, sugar, etc. Children who don’t have food at home usually have no idea how to put those basic items together to make a meal. It’s sad, but true, that some moms or dads just don’t care enough or aren’t healthy enough themselves to feed their kids. For those people who are trying to do right by their children, I am glad we have programs like these and others in place to help them out. Just my two cents worth…
Okay, the website link for the neighborhood map was really hard to find on the child hunger website and I am an experience web surfer.
You might want to add a direct link in your article. Here it is: http://www.childhungerendshere.com/Html/childhood-hunger-in-your-county.html