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Posted: Jul 21, 2010
GIVE…a helping hand to feed the hungry.
On Tuesday, July 13, KDC employees were shuttled to the North Texas Food Bank to volunteer. We were assigned to the Food for Kids – Backpack Program. This program provides 9,000 kids a backpack of food for the weekend every week of the school year. During the summer months, the bags of food are distributed to recreational centers, food pantries, summer programs and anywhere that the kids may be during this time. We learned that Texas is ranked #2 in the US of overall Americans with food insecurity and ranked #1 for children with food insecurity.
Within 2 hours, the KDC team packed 1,470 bags, which equaled 210 boxes which resulted in 7 pallets. That is 5,460 lbs of food which equates to 4,265 meals. We also made a $500 donation that will pay for another 2,000 meals; meaning we overall helped create 6,265 meals to help Close the Gap on hunger!
- Hunger Statistics on Food Insecurity in the US:
- In 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.4 million adults and 16.7 million children.
- In 2008, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children, 21.0 percent compared to 11.3 percent.
- In 2008, households that were more likely to experience food insecurity were households with children (21.0 percent), households with children headed by single women (37.2 percent) or single men (27.6 percent), households with incomes below the poverty line (42.2 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (25.7 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent). According to the USDA Household Food Security in the United States 2008 report, ten states exhibited statistically significant higher household food insecurity rates than the national average (12.2%):
1. Mississippi 17.4%
2. Texas 16.3%
3. Arkansas 15.9%
4. Georgia 14.2%
5. New Mexico 14.1%
6. Missouri 14.0%
7. Oklahoma 14.0%
8. Kansas 13.8%
9. Maine 13.7%
10. North Carolina 13.7%
Additional ways you can help support the NTFB in the DFW area:
- Restaurant week – August 16-22; $7 of every meal is donated to NTFB; More info at http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?pid=121&m=20
- Texas State Fair – bring 3 items and get $2 off your admission
- KDC will coordinate volunteer days periodically
Here’s a snapshot of our day…
