Week 18 - Feeding America and the Lakeview Pantry

Well, as you can tell by looking at our last couple posts, we have fallen into a habit of doing more than one thing each week, and this week is no different.  Jen went to work at the Lakeview Pantry, and I looked into a new place to donate online - Feeding America.

I had seen some TV ads about Feeding America, and I actually thought that it was a government initiative, but when I looked into it, I found that it is a large, nationwide non-profit dedicated to, uh...well, feeding America.  I was impressed by the materials their site provided, because they have a lot of large corporate partners and they do a very good job of explaining their mission.  I will post some links at the bottom to easily find some of the highlights.  I was moved to give them money by two factors.  The first is that they manage to use 93% of donated funds for actual relief operations.  For a national organization, this is a pretty good number.  The second, and more potent reason is that this organization is looking for hungry people everywhere.  That may need a little explanation.

Here in Chicago, Jen and I can give to our local food bank, and we can give to the food bank that supplies all the local food banks in the city.  Giving to Feeding America will allow some of our donation to come back down through that system and wind up helping people in our neighbor hood, but it will also help people in all the vast rural areas of the country who are hungry.  The Feeding America website has some fairly shocking information about how the people who are hungry in America are not just the homeless, and not just those without jobs.  Many people have jobs, work full time, and still cannot feed their families.  A great many of these people live outside the reach of the other wonderful organizations we have worked with.  Spread all over the open spaces in this country are people in need who cannot run around the block to a food pantry because none exist.  Feeding America is working to find ways to reach these people and get them the help they need.  Included in their efforts are a series of mobile food pantries as well as a large network of partners who can help at the local level in non urban areas.

On their website, Feeding America has lots of statistical data about hunger of all kinds, but this is a highlight about rural hunger:

Rural Hunger Facts

• 14.7% of rural households are food insecure, an estimated 3 million households .
• Compared to all regions, the South continues to have the highest poverty rate among people in families with related children under 18 years living in rural areas (24.5 percent) and living in cities and suburbs (19.7 percent) .
• Among all people in female-headed families with related children under 18 years, 50.7 percent were poor in rural areas compared to 35 percent in the suburbs.

They also lay out some of the reasons why hunger is prevalent in rural areas:

• Employment is more concentrated in low-wage industries
• Unemployment and underemployment are greater
• Education levels are lower
• Work-support services, such as flexible and affordable child care and public transportation, are less available
• The rural marketplace offers less access to communication and transportation networks and offers companies less access to activities that foster administration, research and development.
• The fact that so many people need to turn to a food bank or church pantry just to eat in the very same communities where the food is raised is a sad reminder of how much more needs to be done.

After looking over their information, it was an easy call to send some money their way.  I can only hope that some of their initiatives make it to Tuba City (week 13).

Jen also had an interesting time at the Pantry this week.  I was feeling under the weather, and decided not to go, which was OK because all the spots for work were full, or so we thought.  As it turned out, they were short some people and it turned out to be a crazy night.  It was very busy and some less-than-sober guests spilled beer all over the floor.  Now, the Pantry is pretty small, and a puddle anywhere would snarl up traffic pretty seriously.  Jen jumped right in and cleaned up the beer, but the whole night left here exhausted.  On top of all of that, she had to make her way home from the el stop in the middle of a hail storm.  Needless to say, she was not in a great mood when she got home.  We are both going back there this week, and I am hoping for a less eventful night.

To take a quiz about hunger in America from the Feeding America website, click HERE

To find out general information about Feeding America, including how to donate, go to:

Feeding America

For information on the Lakeview Pantry, go to:

Lakeview Pantry