Hunger isn’t a fun feeling
– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young –
Have you ever been hungry? Of course you have, everyone has been hungry throughout their lives. Sometimes, it seems like that clock just crawls toward the lunchtime hour, and that you’ve never been quite so hungry as at that particular moment.
When you’re really hungry, it’s hard to focus on tasks at hand and you feel listless, maybe even grouchy and short-tempered. Everything starts to feel hopeless, like the simplest things are too hard to accomplish.
Once you fill up your stomach or even just take the edge off with a snack, though, everything just magically seems better, right?
But what if you can’t afford to have that quick snack or that meal you’re craving so bad? Unfortunately, the reality for many kids in our school system, is that their family can’t afford meals for them, either through the school cafeteria or by brown bagging it.
Yes, there are free and reduced meals available, but your family has to meet the income guidelines set by the government. Not all students above the income limit can actually afford to eat.
While the schools in our area do as much as they
can to help the students in their care get the food they need, the schools can only do so much. There are instances where kids go without eating all day, or eat every other day, so as not to deplete their lunch account. Sometimes, one sibling will eat one day, while the other eats the next day.
How can students be expected to excel when they’re hungry? How can they focus on their classes and have enough energy to take part in extra-curricular activities, without regular, proper nutrition?
Like I said, our schools do a great job, partnering with the local food pantries to provide backpack meals to take home over the weekend, serving a small meal at the after-school programs and working with organizations to keep lunch accounts active.
But, the schools can only do so much. So, it’s up to us to fill in the gap. Each school accepts donations – which can be anonymous – toward lunch accounts. It’s totally confidential, with schools acting very professional, so students and parents don’t need to be embarrassed that they might need a little help.
Even a few dollars here and there can make the difference to stave off hunger. Maybe you can take a collection at your workplace or hold a donation drive at your church. Maybe that Christmas bonus or some of your tax return can be designated toward school lunch accounts. Whatever you can, and are able, to give, please do so.
However, it doesn’t stop there. It’s been discussed that all school meals, everywhere, should be free to all students. But it’s never come to pass.
What we need to do, is attend listening sessions of local representatives, email or write them, expressing our concerns that our kids aren’t getting enough to eat, so they can take that message back to the state and national level.
We have to make this a priority. How can you really judge by a paystub, whether or not a child needs to eat? It’s not right and it makes me sick to think any kid is going hungry.
I’m not my best when I’m hungry or skip meals to save time, but I know I’ll get something to eat at the end of the day. Imagine the bleak outlook a child has, sitting in class, watching the clock near noon, knowing you don’t get to eat when that bell sounds.
If your heart sank thinking about it, then, please, do something about it, any way you can. We owe it to the kids. If we want to solve world hunger, the first step is to make sure the kids in our own communities are healthy and happy, starting with what’s on their plates.
