Image source: Photo by Erik Scheel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-giving-fruit-to-another-95425/
I feel like I’ve finally grown up. At the ripe old age of 47, I attended my first charity fundraiser with my husband this weekend. It was a silent auction plus an evening of dancing to benefit our local food pantry, Arlington Eats.
Just a few facts we learned at the fundraiser:
The pantry was started in 1991. It was an effort put together by the community after the first war in Iraq began. The organizers had done this in response to concerns about possible food rationing during the war, but they quickly realized that food insecurity was a very large problem in our community.
Each week, the organization provides more than 12,000 pounds of food to Arlingtonians in need.
It serves more than 350 families every week.
Each week, Arlington Eats provides families with $150 in groceries.
Each week, 1,500 people visit and make use of the pantry.
With the lapsing of federal pandemic aid, many states are contemplating universal free lunch programs. Massachusetts is also looking into a bill related to universal school lunches, and you can find out more about how to help if you’re in Massachusetts at the FeedKidsMA.org website.
Food insecurity for families in the US has been a perennial problem, one that has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture stated the following about food insecurity:
“The percent of U.S. households with children that were food insecure reached 14.8 percent in 2020, or 5.6 million households, up from 13.6 percent in 2019. This increase in food insecurity in households with children was the first increase since 2011 and disrupted a decade-long downward trend.”
For some children, school meals are the only nutrition they’ll receive for the day. Please check for information on how your state might be working to address this problem.
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