This is the final diary in the Feeding America series. As the final diarist in this 36-hour series, I want to remind you of a few of the facts about hunger in America. The most startling fact is that one in eight Americans will be hungry this year. That's one in eight people in the richest country in the history of the world. Over 500,000 Americans lost their jobs last month, and 1.25 million people have lost their jobs since September.
Follow me below the fold to learn more.
I guess I can count myself one of the lucky ones. My dad was a paperhanger, my mom a houskeeper. But I grew up in a house of our own, even if it was the worst one in town - a real ramshackle wreck. And my folks always managed to put food on the table, even if it was the cheapest things my mom could find in the market and whatever vegetables she could grow in the backyard. Before I was born my dad had owned a small chain of hardware stores, but that all disappeared in the Depression. Hard times like that seem to be coming again. Lots of folks who thought their lives were secure or even easy are finding themselves on the brink or tumbling over it. My folks managed to provide for their kids and put a roof over their heads, but today many people are having to survive with far less -- and it is getting worse.
Feeding America reports that:
- More than 9 million children are estimated to be served by Feeding America, over 2 million of which are ages 5 and under, representing nearly 13 percent of all children under age 18 in the United States and over 72 percent of all children in poverty.
- According to the USDA, an estimated 12.4 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2007.
- 8 states plus DC have more than 20 percent of children living in food insecure households, the states of Texas (23.58%) and Mississippi (22.84%) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food.
Follow the Link to Feeding America for most facts about childhood hunger in America.
Feeding America
The hungry are hardworking adults and their children; they are our seniors; they are struggling families in the suburbs, in the country, in our cities. Read their stories here.
Here is a link to Feeding America's donation page.
Please give what you can to fight hunger in this country. Many thanks to all the diarists who have shared their stories and to noweasels for organizing this donation drive.