On June 5th, in communities across the country, people will gather to focus the nation's attention on the severe but solvable problem of domestic hunger and its impact on this nation's children.

http://www.hungerday.org/


note, this is not for some vague country that most americans haven't ever heard about, it's a national thing since there's apparently 9 million children who face hunger in America.

Very little of the money collected for the hungry gose for to feed the, most of it gets lost in 'cost'. Alot of soup kitchens and church's have food.We use to take clothes an food to the ones on the street at missions,and some of these told us that alot of it is taken by the workers at missions, but of course this is'nt always true. So we just passed food and clothes out on the street when mission was opening or closing.Alot of homeless don't make it inside,because of lack of room, they get turned away. Some homeless are very un-sociable and stay hidden.At one mission home they had clothes piled to ceiling, but not what most need, like coats,socks,blankets. I have'nt been in awhile since I no longer live near major city. who

I vow to take this day head on, be aware of my hunger, and eat when it approaches... Then tip out a big mac for all my little homies in Africa.

I'm growing a little extra in the garden this year. I figure if I've got to much to feed my family, I can help feed other people's families. Remember the golden rule? Treat others as you'd like to be treated? When I'm down and out, I could only wish that people would help out when they could.

It's not costing me any more money, and hardly any time. The biggest cost would be the 2 mile drive to the food bank, where I KNOW they can use fresh veggies.

You can try growing your own 'victory' garden like I am. It's really easy, especially if you use square foot gardening. (www.squarefootgardening.com) Hardly any weeds, less watering, more productive plants, etc. You may not have much money, but donating five minutes a week to tend a small garden isn't a lot to ask. Besides, growing your own food takes the burden off of commercial growers. If we take some of the burden off of them, commercially food can be sent to where we need it.

I don't know that the definition of "hunger" is the same here in the States as it is in other places. I mean, 9 million kids? I demand photographic evidence.

you mean it doesnt count unless they look like ethiopians?

i dunno, maybe they have more details on the site. I just saw it and figure i'd post it...

There are pages and pages of details on the site. Here's some of it:

14,812,000 people in the United States are members of working poor families.1
39% of emergency food recipient households (those served in soup kitchens, food pantries, and emergency shelters) have at least one adult working.2
According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 37% of people requesting emergency food assistance in American cities are employed.3
Of the 23.3 million needy people seeking emergency food assistance in the U.S., more than 9 million are children.4
70% of poor families with children in the U.S. include a person who works.5
8,659,000 children in the U.S. live in working poor families.6
Over the past two decades, the poverty rate among working families has increased by nearly 50%.7

According to recent Census estimates, two-thirds of parents with low earnings work in retail or service trades.8

Between 1973 and 1988, families headed by high school dropouts increased their annual work effort (hours worked) by nearly 12% and ended up with 8% less annual income.9

37.2% of emergency food recipients have less than a high school diploma or the equivalent.10

According to the Census Bureau, average yearly earnings for high school graduates in the U.S. was $22,154 in 1996.11

63% of emergency food recipients have a high school diploma, compared to 84% of the general U.S. population.12

43 million Americans have no health insurance, even in an emergency.13

Nearly half of all parents in working poor families lack health insurance.14

84.4% of adult emergency food recipients have no private medical insurance.15

29.7% of emergency food recipient households had to choose between paying for food or paying for medicine or medical care in the past 12 months.

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32 million Americans (11.8%) live at or below the federal poverty level - an annual income of $14,630 for a family of three (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, October 2000).

33 million Americans live in households that are food insecure, meaning they are either hungry or at risk of hunger. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Household Food Security in the United States 2000).

America's Second Harvest provided emergency food assistance to 21 million needy people last year. 39% of emergency food recipient households (those served in soup kitchens, food pantries, and emergency shelters) have at least one adult working (America's Second Harvest, Hunger in America: 2001).

A July 1999 General Accounting Office (GAO) study on food stamps found that the need for food assistance has not diminished in the face of declining food stamp and welfare caseloads. Rather, needy individuals and families are increasingly relying on sources of food other than food stamps - food banks, soup kitchens, and emergency pantries (U.S. General Accounting Office, Food Stamp Program Participation: Various Factors Have Led to Declining Participation, GAO/RECD-99-185).

That same GAO study also reported that many states believe that welfare reform initiatives designed to reduce welfare caseloads have helped to lower food stamp participation among eligible families (Food Stamp Program Participation: Various Factors Have Led to Declining Participation).

A December 2000 study by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that during the past year requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 17% in American cities, the second highest rate of increase since the recession of the early 1990's (U.S. Conference of Mayors, Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities, December 2000).

The Mayors also found that 32% of adults requesting emergency food aid were working, and that 62% of all requests for emergency food aid in the surveyed cities were made by children or their parents (U.S. Conference of Mayors, Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities, December 2000).

Catholic Charities reported that in 1998, the demand for emergency assistance rose an average of 38% among reporting agencies (Food Stamp Program Participation: Various Factors Have Led to Declining Participation).
Hunger Among Former Welfare Recipients: State Data


In a study of former welfare recipients in Wisconsin, respondents were asked if there was ever a time after leaving welfare when they could not buy food. 32% of former recipients answered "yes" (Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Survey of Those Leaving AFDC or W-2 January to March 1998, 1999).

A South Carolina Department of Social Services study reported that 17% of former welfare recipients had no way to buy food some of the time after leaving the TANF rolls. This is twice the number of families who reported such problems while receiving assistance (South Carolina Department of Social Services, Survey of Former Family Independence Program Clients, March 1998.

In Connecticut, a study of post-time limit TANF recipients found that 22% of respondents indicated that they "sometimes" of "often" did not have enough to eat. Of those respondents, 96% reported that the food they bought did not last and they did not have money to buy more food at some time during the three months after their benefits were terminated (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, Connecticut Post-Time Limit Tracking Study: Three Month Survey Results, September 1998).

An analysis of former welfare recipients in Massachusetts found that 18% of families leaving the rolls were back on welfare after 3 months, and 21% were back after a year (Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Life After Welfare: Still Poor, Still Hungry, April 1999).

That same Massachusetts study also found that food insecurity increased for many families after they went off welfare - 40% of the interviewed families did not have enough food or enough of the right kinds of food after being off welfare for one year. One family reported going without food for 3 days, one for 4 days, and one for 6 days. Over 20% of families who were off welfare after one year used food banks or had to borrow money to buy food.