[box type="note" size="medium" style="rounded" border="full"]September is Hunger Action Month. 5 Ways You Can Get Involved![/box]
I have been truly delighted this past month by the Facebook postings of friends and neighbors - watching sweet children celebrating “back to school” moments. You know those pictures - kids sporting the latest fashion, the new backpack, and the rad shoes. My favorite is the big grin of a precious girl looking back at her parents, as if to say “I’ve got this!” as she boards a school bus for the first time, full of anticipation and independenc
e. I love her parents and remember when she was born. It is wonderful to watch, even from afar, the steps forward into a new school year for so many children across our community. I love seeing the pride and amusement on the faces of their parents.
But I am sobered by the number of children whose families are looking forward to school for a different reason: food. They are the parents who struggled all summer to make ends meet. They know that school means that their children will have a real lunch at least Monday through Friday, maybe breakfast too, if the bus gets there on time. These are the parents who depend on schools to take care of their children in ways most of us can never imagine.
They are also the ones who never catch a break. They are the ones who work two or three part-time jobs, who depend on the bus line for transportation, who have to rearrange their lives just to come up with Number 2 pencils, three ring binders, and all of the other things on the teacher’s list of necessary school items. They are the parents who have to figure out a way to pay for their children to participate in athletics and in band and in all of the other enriching, but costly, parts of school life. Can you imagine having to forgo basketball because your family cannot afford both food and basketball shoes?
You can help us help them this month. September is Hunger Action Month. We have a list on our website of simple things that you can do. When all of us care that each child has nutritious food day in and day out, when every family feels that they can make a difference in the lives of those who struggle, we will build a hunger-free community. You can make a difference, a huge difference. Please help.
Building a food secure community together,
Jill Staton Bullard
CEO & Co-Founder