Just Imagine
Posted by Scott McKee on Thursday, October 8, 2009
Imagine having little or no control over whether you will have food to eat today. Now try to imagine being six years old. Imagine sitting in a classroom with your first grade classmates for six hours every school day, and how difficult it would be trying to focus on your lessons while you’re hungry.
As a father who spends a good deal of time volunteering in my child’s elementary school, I see the effect of hunger in my own community nearly every day. I don’t live in an area where there’s pervasive rural poverty, or in an inner city neighborhood. In fact I live in one of the more affluent small cities in my state.
Yet every day my son’s school cafeteria is filled with two types of children—those who never have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, and those who are never sure.
The nutrition director for our school department tells me that there are even kids in the district who qualify for free or reduced school breakfast and lunch, but whose parents don’t apply for the program simply because of the stigma attached to accepting such services.
In a country that is blessed with incredible abundance, it is easy to overlook the problem of childhood hunger in our own communities. I did just that for much of my adult life, until a family member hit hard times in the mid 1990’s and ended up homeless and living on the streets. That turn of events led me to join my local Share Our Strength volunteer committee. Some fourteen years later it is the faces of every at-risk child in my son’s school that compels me to continue the fight to end childhood hunger.
The undeniable fact is that no matter where you live in this country there are hungry children in your community.
The solution to this problem is not complicated—we must ensure that all children have access to nutritious food in the schools, churches, summer camps, community centers, and other gathering places where hungry kids spend their days. That food must be served up with dignity, respect, and understanding. It will take hard work and political will, but it can be done. Anyone can contribute simply by volunteering to share your time and strength.
Can we as a society afford to ignore these children? As a father, that is unimaginable.
October 8, 2009 | | Tags: classroom, hunger, volunteering
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