Help End Hunger In Our State And Nation

There’s never a good time to be hungry. But in a troubled economy, the nagging issue of food insecurity becomes an urgent problem.

Many of our North Texas neighbors were struggling even before the economy soured. Consider these facts:

• The number of people in poverty increased from 37.3 million in 2007 to 39.8 million in 2008.
• The poverty increased from 12.5% in 2007 to 13.2% in 2008.
• The poverty rate for children under 18 increased from 18% in 2007 to 19% in 2008.
• Almost 120,000 students in the Dallas Independent School District relied on the free or reduced-price lunch during the last academic year. That’s 77 percent of the district’s total enrollment.
• US Department of Agriculture researchers, using data from 2005-2007, found that almost 15 percent of Texas households experienced food insecurity during that time.
• The average annual income for a family that seeks help from a Texas Food Bank is just $9,000.

This fall, Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the laws that have allowed many low-income families and children to avoid hunger. Those laws are especially important in Texas, where poverty, food insecurity and obesity rates are significantly above national averages.

You can help more North Texas children grow up healthy and strong by contacting U.S. representatives and senators and urging them to provide the resources needed to end hunger in this country.

Send a letter to your representatives and senators, asking them to expand childhood nutrition programs.

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