Food bank takes aim at local child hunger

With a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey showing "food insecurity" essentially unchanged nationwide from 2011 to 2012, Southeast Missouri Food Bank is continuing to work toward eliminating hunger in the region and focusing on children.

The food bank provides food assistance to approximately 58,000 people in 16 Missouri counties: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard and Wayne.

The food bank's mission is to promote food recovery -- recovering surplus food; acquire and distribute food and household products; and provide community leadership and education on hunger and poverty in an effort to alleviate hunger in the region.

One of its objectives is to better feed hungry children. The Backpacks for Friday program, which meets the needs of elementary school children by sending 10 pounds of food home to their family each school-year weekend, began distribution Friday, Children's Program manager Amanda Winschel said.

Participating students are selected by being eligible for the free-and-reduced lunch program and teacher recommendation.

ADAM VOGLER ~ avogler@semissourian.comVolunteer Karlis Hennrich checks the food set aside for Blanchard Elementary as part of the Backpacks for Friday program Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Cape Girardeau School District warehouse. The Backpacks For Friday program will operate at 45 schools in 11 counties and provide food to over 800 students and their families during the 20132014 school year.

"Childhood hunger is a real problem," Winschel said in an email. "According to Feeding America's 'Map the Meal Gap 2013,' there are over 21,000 children in Southeast Missouri Food Bank's service area that do not know when they will receive their next meal. That equals 1 in 6 children. SMFB is committed to this problem by offering child feeding programs, including Backpacks for Friday. During the 2013-2014 school year, the program will operate at 45 schools in 11 counties and provide food to over 800 students and their families weekly."

In Cape Girardeau, 62.4 percent of public school students are eligible for free-and-reduced lunch. In Jackson schools, it's 36.3 percent.

School administrators say it's a must for students to start the day on a nutritionally sound footing.

Cape Girardeau assistant superintendent of academic services Sherry Copeland noted the district's academic achievement numbers went up this year compared to last in the Missouri School Improvement 5 standards -- from 48.2 percent in 2012 to 75 percent this year.

"A lot of things caused this," she said, but one could be offering free breakfasts for all students.

Volunteers Cindy Bertrand, left, and Karlis Hennrich load food for Blanchard Elementary as part of the Backpacks for Friday program into Bertrand's vehicle Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Cape Girardeau School District warehouse. The Backpacks For Friday program will operate at 45 schools in 11 counties and provide food to over 800 students and their families during the 20132014 school year. (Adam Vogler)

"I definitely think by starting the children off from a good nutritional standpoint on the day -- perfect. Because if a student is sitting in the room, and they're stomach is growling, they're not thinking about what the teacher is teaching," Copeland said.

She noted that adults are the same way.

"For a lot of our students, sometimes the only nutritional meals they get during the day are breakfast and lunch at the school," Copeland said.

Jackson superintendent Ron Jackson said breakfast is available to any student who wants it, but those who don't qualify for free-and-reduced meals pay for it.

"We feel it's just a must to have the opportunity to have a good breakfast and lunch. Otherwise, they could be potentially distracted and not focused on their work," Anderson said.

As part of its effort to better help hungry children, the food bank was awarded a staff person from ConAgra Foods Foundation. Hope Pascoe, who is part of the 2014 Child Hunger Corps class, is tasked with assessing needs, implementing or expanding child hunger programs and evaluating those programs.

Pascoe started at the food bank Aug. 28.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors "food insecurity" through an annual survey sponsored by the USDA's Economic Research Service. This year's survey found that in 2012, 14.5 percent, or 17.6 million households, were food insecure. "Food-insecure households (those with low and very low food security) had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources," the study said.

In 2012, 5.7 percent of U.S. households, or 7 million households, had very low food security. In this more severe range of food insecurity, the food intake of some household members was reduced, and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because of limited resources. The prevalence of very low food security was unchanged from 2011 when it was 5.7 percent, the study said.

Children were food insecure at times during the year in 10 percent of households. These 3.9 million households were unable at times during the year to provide adequate, nutritious food for their children. The percentage of households with food-insecure children was unchanged from 2011 -- 10 percent.

Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the federal poverty line, households with children headed by single women or single men, and black and Hispanic households. Food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas than in suburban areas and commuter areas around large cities, the study said.

Typically, households classified as having very low food security experienced the condition seven months of the year, for a few days in each of those months, the study said.

Fifty-nine percent of food-insecure households in the survey reported that in the previous month, they had participated in one or more of the three largest federal food and nutrition assistance programs -- SNAP, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the National School Lunch Program, the study said.

In Cape Girardeau County, 24.6 percent of households earn less than $25,000 a year. The poverty threshold for a family of four is $23,550 a year. Fourteen percent of all families in the county live below the poverty level and 22.8 percent of children, or 3,789 children, live below the poverty level, according to figures provided by the United Way of Southeastern Missouri.

A little more than 36 percent of Cape Girardeau County children are on food stamps, and 20.3 percent of children have been identified as having "hunger issues."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

3920 Nash Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.