Numbers and figures have never really been my forte. When I was in college, I begrudgingly took the requisite amount of math credits to satisfy the core curriculum of my alma mater. It never crossed my mind that so much of the work that I would be called upon to pursue after college would be influenced by numbers, statistics and demographics.
The number of food insecure individuals that the Capital Area Food Bank has identified in the Washington metro area is over 680,000. At this time, we are reaching just over two-thirds of these people.
These people are all around us. They are our neighbors, our friends and the strangers we pass in the street. They are people who are struggling with the all-too-common reality of not having enough money to buy adequate, nutritious food for their families after paying other necessary bills. We are even finding out that people who have supported the food bank in the past through donating, or volunteering now find themselves visiting our partner agencies for food assistance.
In a period of our nation’s history when so many families are finding it difficult to put food on their tables, we are baffled that funding for programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is at risk of being cut by up to $16 billion. The food bank has experienced a 25 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance since 2006.
In one of the most affluent urban centers of one of the richest countries in the world, there is still an overwhelming number of people who are faced every day with the difficult choices between buying food and allocating limited funds towards other expenses, such as paying for utilities, paying a mortgage, or covering family healthcare expenses.
The facts and figures are startling, but there is hope. The food bank’s new Bedford Falls Foundation Distribution Center will help close the gap that exists currently in our service area, allowing us to feed a greater number of those 680,000 members of our community, over time.
Hunger — it’s closer than you think. Help us in our mission as we work tirelessly ’til no one is hungry. Donate. Volunteer. Make a difference.