Think this is someone else's problem? Can't possibly affect us locally? How's this for local?
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Stanislaus University sees a need for a food pantry on campus
By: Rocio Luna
Issue date: 9/29/10 Section: News
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732 male and female students participated in the survey. A primary purpose of the survey was to find out how many students forgo meals due to lack of money. The results were alarming.
The majority of affected individuals are full-time, off campus students living in Turlock. Since the majority are full-time students, it is harder for them to manage a full-time job that would help them pay for food.
The survey asked the students if they had ever gone without a meal for a day because money was an issue: 44.2% of the students responded yes and 55.8% responded no. However, when they were asked if they knew someone that had gone without a meal a day because of the lack of money, 56.1% said yes.
These shocking answers were of great concern to new ASI President Inner Pahal. Pahal talked to some of his colleagues about this situation and eventually mentioned it to Christian Duran, former president of the Hunger Network club at California State University, Stanislaus. When Pahal met with them to tell them about the food pantry project, they took the lead.
Duran said: "We have received three emails of students in desperate need of food. One of the students said that he was thinking of going back home because he could no longer afford to buy food and the other things; the other two were in a very desperate need of it."
The Hunger Network, in preparing to open the food pantry, has had to do a lot of research. According to Duran, last summer the organization visited the CSU, Fresno food pantry in order to ask questions, see how they run, and see what kind of other services they offer. Unlike the Bulldog Food Pantry of Fresno State, the CSU, Stanislaus food pantry will be the first one to be located on campus on any public institution.
The location of the food pantry has not yet been confirmed, but Hunger Network is working hard to get approval to use a room inside the Student Services Office. The club is also waiting for a business letter approval, the approval from the school's 501(c) (3) code, and the confirmation of the location to start this program.
Duran mentioned that if everything goes well, the food pantry may open Spring 2011
"We want to start little by little. We want to start with about thirty students and we'll go from there depending on the turn out," Duran said.
There are elements of the program yet to be worked out. But what is certain is that many people, including faculty and members of the community, are offering their assistance with this project. Donations to the food pantry will be accepted from anyone. They prefer monetary donations to buy more food at a local food bank. However, they will not turn their backs on canned or any other types of donated food.
This isn't a new problem for Modesto.....the city's people have been hungry for some time
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Modesto, Calif., food bank steps up efforts to assist needy
Nov 24, 2008 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --With a faltering economy pushing demand up and donations down, Inter-Faith Ministries food bank is extending its effort to collect donations for needy families this holiday season.
Inter-Faith Ministries hopes to keep its food drive going through Christmas, said executive director Lynis Chaffey. The drive originally was scheduled to end Sunday.
While no hard numbers were available Sunday, Chaffey said donations seem to be down. Meanwhile, demand is escalating daily. At Inter-Faith Ministries' Kerr Avenue food pantry, more than 100 people a day have been lining up to receive free groceries. In past years, the pantry has served about 60 or 70 people a day, said Chaffey
To help meet that demand, Inter-Faith launched its first-ever "Can Do" food drive this year, setting up donation barrels for canned goods and other nonperishable food items at several grocery stores and U.S. Bank branches.
Results were mixed. At Trader Joe's, the barrels were removed after two weeks because people dropped more trash than food into the donation bins, said store supervisor Steve Galvez.
"You can really tell that people are -- no matter what type of income level -- they're watching their pennies," said Jerome Newton, the assistant store manager at O'Brien's Market in Riverbank. "We've had some donations, but nothing like we would have hoped to see for them."
Other drop-off locations reported better results.
"Our barrels are doing great," said Terri Jacobs, manager of Grocery Outlet on Prescott Road. Jacobs said donations seem steady, with one of the store's employees pitching in $100 worth of food toward the effort.
Chaffey said some larger-scale donations are helping fill part of the giving gap. A partnership with Weight Watchers yielded about 1,200 pounds of food and students at Central Catholic High School gathered close to 2,000 pounds. Foster Farms donated 400 frozen turkeys that will be distributed to needy families for Thanksgiving dinners.
Even with those contributions, Chaffey said meeting the needs of everyone who needs help this year will be difficult. Inter-Faith Ministries has seen a marked increase in the number of first-time users of its charitable services -- a sign that economic woes are reaching into more and more families' pocketbooks, said Chaffey.
Last month, about 35 percent of Inter-Faith Ministries' clients had never sought services from the agency before.
"That's a huge number of people that have never faced unemployment and never faced not having enough money to pay for food," said Chaffey. "I think with the holidays, things will become more difficult. There will be increases in utility expenses and increases in job uncertainty."
Hunger affects the whole nation...
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New USDA Report: National Hunger Reaches Record High
The report, Household Food Insecurity in the United States, is a sobering snapshot of the pervasiveness of hunger in our nation. The report shows that child hunger remains critically high. Nearly 1 in 4 children was at risk of hunger in 2009.
This report is based on data from the December 2009 food security survey which provides the most recent statistics on the food security of U.S. households, how much households spent on food, and the extent to which food insecure households participated in federal and community food assistance programs.
Key Highlights:
- In 2009, 50.2 million (16.6%) Americans lived in food insecure households.
- In 2009, 17.4 million (14.7 %) American households were food insecure.
- In 2009, 8.4 million (21.3%) households with children were living in food insecure households.
- In 2009, 17.2 million (23.2%) children were living in food insecure households.
- In 2009, 2.2 million (7.5%) households with seniors were living in food insecure households.
- In 2009, 884,000 (7.8%) seniors living alone were living in food insecure households.
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Learn:Now that we know a little bit about this livability issue, what can we do to educate ourselves about hunger issues? How have others made themselves more aware?
Act: My days as a super hero have come to a close and I leave it to you, future super hero types, to discover new ways to assist Modesto's hungry. Go out and discover:What solutions exist? How have people extended a helping hand?
Imagine: Ok super heroes, go test those newly discovered super hero powers to help Modesto's hungry. Be as creative as you want to solve the problem and make people more aware of the issue!
