Are Any of You or Your Kids Really Going Hungry?

I apologize in advance this is going to be long.

Have you seriously NEVER had to eat a very small portion of what you cooked so your kids could have all that they wanted to eat? Have you NEVER had to stand in the isle in front of the Macaroni and Cheese and try and add up if you have enough cash to get the Kraft or had to get the store brand or the off off off brand? You have NEVER had such limited funds that you only had $30 to spend on groceries for a whole week for a family of 4? Have you NEVER had to go to the Wonder Bread Store and buy day old bread? Or go to the food bank and when you open the box everything is out of date or rotten? Or stood in front of the hot dogs because the kids really wanted to have hot dogs and as much as you'd like to buy the Hebrew National you had to buy the $.88 instead?

We are grandparents raising grandchildren and live on SSDI due to my husband having a quadruple bypass several years ago. We get child support on 1 child's dad every week without fail as long as the father has a job. He always has a long term job and rarely changes employers. The other dad pays whenever he works but they mostly pay him cash so we don't often see any from him. I have 7 grandchildren. My ex has the 2 older boys, I have a boy and a girl, a foster family just adopted a boy and a girl, then my daughter has #7 in rehab with her. She is graduating in a few months and moving to a supported living apartment situation. She is on TANF and food stamps so she cannot pay anything, her long term job since high school has been as a stripper.

So, I can count on about $240 per month in child support on top of our SSDI. Since our income is unearned income they don't adjust it, that is take about 20% off the top to discount for taxes and work related expenses. A family of 4 that works for the same amount of money we get can get about $400 per month in food stamps but we can't qualify if the second dad pays a cent of child support. It puts us over the income limit. Even when he goes without paying for a while and we do qualify for food stamps we only get about $75 per month.

I work 3 part time jobs to try and fill the void. I work at a gymnastics studio to pay for the kids classes there, I receive no money, I still have to pay part of the class fees. I clean house for my FIL and he gives me a gasoline card, I have a suggested limit but if I go over he doesn't say anything. I also iron for several customers. I get paid cash and checks. I make a little bit of profit, but not much, and always claim it on my taxes.

We do get free breakfast and lunches for the kids and we go during the Summer to the free lunch program. The kids eat free, we can't afford to pay $3.50 each for the food for ourselves so we sit there and visit with our friends that take their kids too.

When milk at Walmart went over $5 per gallon around the 1st. I only had budgeted for it being $3.38 plus tax so I could only get 1 gallon of milk or do without something else. I stood in the dog food isle and tried to get control of myself and stop crying. It stinks. It did go back down within a couple of days to $3.98 but still, $5 is just too much for me to pay.

My husband and I do without so the kids will always have enough. We go to food banks and to the Health Department for WIC, we do whatever it takes for the kids to have what ever they are truly wanting. Making brownies is a common thing for us, they are $1.00 per box for a 13"X9" pan and we use the eggs from the WIC in them. I have the same oil I had at Christmas, it's kept in the fridge since I don't use much of it. So it's an affordable treat that will last more then one day.

We don't buy shoes and purses or new clothes until the ones we have are so completely ruined they can't be saved. My husband has glued his everyday shoes together about 4 times since this Spring. He is going to have to have a new pair before long.
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I do with out name brand shampoo and conditioner, I cut my own hair and the rest of the family's, I make my own detergent, I make a lot of our clothes, we get scholarships for any sports we sign the kids up for, we do everything we can do to provide them with the lives they can enjoy and thrive in. They don't know we are poor. They have what they need and some of what they want.

As I stood in the pet food isle crying about the milk I wasn't even crying for us, I was crying for all the people who don't have as much income as we do, what in the world are they going to do. I have a friend who gets SSDI but it's only a few hundred a month. She gets $23 per month in food stamps. If it wasn't for her years supply of food and eating very minimalistic she'd be starving.

When my husband had his heart attack we used up every bit of our food storage supply, we used all our retirement funds, cashed in our life insurance money, all the money we could liquidate we did or we would have been on the streets.

We lost our home, both cars...which wasn't a horrible thing the payments were about $775 per month and the full coverage insurance was $1000 every 6 months. We lost our status in our friend of circles, we didn't have money to eat out all the time anymore, etc.... But we had each other and then we got the kids. Life is full of joy and wonder every day.

I have never worked harder to provide a home and to try to learn everything I can to do a better job this time around as I am learning all over to parent kids.

Our internet is free by the way, our cell phones are the cheapest we can find anywhere, our cable is included in our rent, my brother gave me the van I drive several years ago for Christmas (it's a 1998), the Mercedes (1981) is a beater car that my hubby drives was a gift from someone who could no longer afford the extra insurance and didn't want to deal with selling it. Our computers are very old but my husband worked in IT for a while and knows how to build them from spare parts and fix them if needed. I also don't smoke or drink alcohol. I do however buy a 6 pack of bottles of Dr. Pepper each month for a treat for myself.

20 moms found this helpful

oh my gosh, open your eyes people. just plain open your eyes. stop having the stereotypical image of a dirt covered hole's in their clothes child sitting on the curb holding a rusty tin cup. people all around us are going hungry. maybe they only eat one meal a day, to me, that counts as going hungry. if a child cannot eat when they are hungry just at the one or two meal times they may be able to have, then yes they are going hungry. One of my aunts has 5 children, their father left her to be with another women. moved states, didnt work so she had no way to get any kind of help from him. she worked 3 jobs to be able to afford a house for them, put clothes on their backs, make sure they had school supplies etc, and for them to eat. she would often go a couple of days without eating to make sure her children each had breakfast and dinner. they had lunch at school. during the summer and on breaks it was even harder for her to make sure they had lunch as well.

we have 3 sons. all of them were born with cleft lip and palate and have varrying issues with feeding problems and some other health issues caused by their clefts. I had to stop working after the twins were born. we could not afford to pay someone to watch them that was qualified in taking care of them with their issues (for example one of the twins came home with a NG feeding tube and he had it until he was almost 2 months old) they had to be fed with special feeders they couldnt drink from a regular bottle because of their cleft. so, that took us from having 2 full time incomes for 3 people, me hubby and our toddler, to having 1 full time income for 5 people. and my husband paycheck got cut almost in half with him having to put us all on his insurance. so yeah, we HAVE to utilize the WIC and foodstamp programs, otherwise our kids wouldnt have food. our internet is free, my in-laws pay for it and only because all of my family is in Indiana and we rarely get to go out there, so it is a way for my family to keep in touch and to see pictures of the kids.

and it just makes me so angry that people always want to talk about how it is the drug addicts, or lazy people etc who use the programs or have starving families. it is crazy. our church fills backpacks every single Sunday to give to kids at the local elementaries. we fill roughly 200 every week. they are filled with food supplies that dont require the fridge, so yeah most of it isnt the healthiest. but it makes it so that these kids have something to eat on the weekends. it doesnt matter what kind of neighborhood your live in, what kind of house you have etc, you and your kids can still be starving or going hungry.

16 moms found this helpful

Runaways
Immigrant refugees that don't know what resources are out there
The Mentally Ill and children of the mentally ill
Children of drug addicts
Handicapped and elderly, living on social security, forced to choose between hot food or electricity
Children sold into sex trafficing

Children of neglect. I grew up in a house with a mean stepfather and an alcoholic mother. They didn't feed me breakfast or give me lunch money. I would take 15c a day off my dads dresser to buy a glass of T at lunch. This was in the 80s. My mom couldn't fill out the free lunch app because she was completely absent and because my stepdad was a contractor that didn't file taxes. They thought asking for any federal help would send a red flag about his taxes. The only time any of those food aid programs helped me was throughout the summer, free lunch was delivered to the local park and there were lines of kids that showed up to be fed. Think, How hungry do you have to be to walk 5 blocks for a balogona sandwhich and an apple. I was hungry

16 moms found this helpful

My parents fostered a brother and sister once ( was in my early twenties)...we went to Walmart the night they came to live with them...no clothes, no clean underwear, hadn't bathed in I don't even know how long.
We purchased three new outfits for each, a pair of tennis shoes, pair of nice dress shoes, underwear and socks. Bill came to $250...and do you know what the little girl said to my dad? "
"oh Mr. Kenny, that is way too much money to spend on us, We don't need both pairs of shoes, and we can wear this out (pointing to the one she had on) and one other, We can switch off everyother day!"...
Then we took them to get some Sonic for dinner (not the best but it was getting late)...the boy ate his hamburger, and four french fries and folded up the bag with the rest of the fries. I asked him are you full? he said "no but I don't know when the next time I will eat again, so I'm keeping these for later!"

Yes there are kids out there going hungry, yes parents as well. And the reasons are so vast and unpredictable. one shouldn't judge, you don't know the circumstances behind anyones hunger. Frankly I don't care if a child is hungry they need to be fed.

I am lucky, we may live pay check to pay check but we have are not going hungry.

13 moms found this helpful

Some kids go hungry because the parents choose to let them go hungry. The parents have enough money for cigarettes, booze and late night partying, but not for their kids. You don't need a permit to have kids. A friend told me the bar he went to would accept food stamps for drinks at 50 cents on the dollar.

There is plenty of food available and its is politically correct to make a big deal out of feed the "hungry".

I was severly criticized by the principal of the school my kids went to because I wouldn't sign my kids up for their "free breakfest and free lunch" program. Why? The school made a tremendous profit on all the kids on the free programs. They wanted the government subsidy.

I've seen the food given to one food pantry. I followed the pantry truck. He stopped off at various homes (some were very nice) until he noticed he was being followed. Then he tried to loose me in traffic and in neighborhoods. He finally drove down to the food pantry listed on the side of the truck. I got out to ask the pantry what their rules were. The office was locked. While I was waiting at the door, the truck drove off. He never did come back to drop off the food he was picking up. I personally think it was a scam.

ADDED: Sometimes its just ignorance and sometimes its stupidity. I spend $25 per week per person for groceries. I seldom buy prepackaged foods. I cook from scratch. I've seen grocery shoppers buying IAM dog food for $1+ per pound and talking about how much groceries are. They buy all kinds of expensive stuff (chicken tenders at $5 lb) but won't buy whole fryers for $.79 lb. They buy 90/10 hamburger for $4 lb and won't buy 80/20 for $2 lb. They buy OreIda frozen french fries ($1 lb), but won't buy potatoes for $1.99 for 10 lbs. When I mention this to them when they are talking about this kind of thing, they look down their noses at me.

Good luck to you and yours.

12 moms found this helpful

Why are so many people so short sighted that they assume everyone here has the internet? I know quite a few people that go to the library to get online or they live in apartment buildings or on blocks where they hitch-hike on someone else's internet. I don't have my internet blocked so that if my neighbors want to get on they can. I've read these statements many times before on here. Sometimes people seem to be rather quick to make assumptions that may be way off base. Not only that, people get on at work, at relatives, and some people work online so that they can't be without it. My husband brings work home at night and on the weekends and his job would not allow him to be without. I advertise and communicate with my clients online. Many of my parents have done jobs that required the internet and then there are students that use it too. So NO it's not optional for everyone and NO not everyone on here pays for it themselves.

I have had daycare moms that have told me point blank they had no food at home. I have had some that called to tell me they needed me to feed them supper because they had no food at home.

In the early 90's my husband and I were providing children's church for a group of 3-7 year olds. A 6 year old child was there every week. She came in on the bus and I did not know her family. She was tiny. I thought she was maybe 3 if that. She sat in my lap while we had our lessons. I knew she was small. But I didn't know she was starving. One week I showed up and some of the ladies took me aside and said she died that week and that it had been ruled she starved. That had a profound impact on me. I simply never have gone hungry in my life and it didn't seem right and I didn't think it could happen here in the USA. But it does.

12 moms found this helpful

We get food stamps and WIC, but I have a daughter who has Celiac disease and I'm still nursing her (even though she eats well, she's a toddler) so she and I are both gluten free.

Sometimes, for the sake of our children, yes, my husband and I go hungry. Not like we're going to starve, or anything...

...but for example, he made stir fry tonight and I accidentally bought garlic powder that's not gluten free (whoops on my part, I REALLY thought single ingredients were all good.) and he used it before he saw...at least he saw, and she and I didn't eat it.

However, we can't afford to make "another" supper...so yes, I'm hungry. I can't eat extras because then there won't be enough for other meals through the month. I have to budget VERY carefully, and we cannot waste food.

And there are times that we eat everything we make for supper, and it's just not enough after we feed our children so we only get a bit and yes, we're hungry.

11 moms found this helpful

Added: SLM, I just read your post and it made me cry. My mom and I both taught children's church and I feel for you. What a terrible thing!

For those of you who believe in religion or spirituality, please remember that Christ asked for us to help others. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Don't forget that, when you get angry at adults who don't or can't feed their kids. The kids didn't ask for their circumstances.

Original:
If you have never worked with or lived on the other side of the tracks, you don't know what it's like to be with or around people who are perpetually hungry or to BE hungry yourself. As a small child, my dad didn't draw a salary at the church he pastored - he only got what was in the offering plate. When there was nothing left to buy groceries, my parents fed me and my sisters rather than eating themselves.

My mom went back to college in her 30's and got her teaching certificate and started teaching. That helped us a great deal. Fast forward to the last school she worked in for over 20 years - it was the lowest of the area schools. The good teachers would come and go. The school was mostly minorities, at risk kids, and low economic kids. Most people didn't want to work there.

My mom did. She loved those kids. She worked hard with them. She had to institute "hug times" during the day because they wanted to hug her all the time and couldn't get things done. For some of the kids, hers was the only hug they got.

They had free breakfast and lunch, and most of those families qualified. A lot of those kids were so famished at breakfast because they didn't get dinner at home, that if they were sick, they would come to school so that they could eat. My mom knew who the hungriest kids were - she would gather the turnip greens for one little boy who didn't care WHAT went in his mouth - he was so hungry. His eyes would shine when she'd bring him several helpings of turnip greens.

I challenge people who don't believe in hunger in America to go volunteer to help people who need food. I challenge them to go work for a food bank. 8kidsdad, you have some time before you start your next job. Go see what YOU can do to make a difference. How about TEACHING some of these folks HOW to fix food from scratch? You're a good cook - share your talent to help some of these folks learn not to use pre-packaged food.

I appreciate BP, that you've said that the children should be helped regardless of whether or not the kids are with unfit parents or parents who have fallen on hard times. The point is that the "thousand points of light" that Daddy Bush talked about long ago is what we should try to foster if people want to help others help themselves.

D.

10 moms found this helpful

We get to go food shopping twice a month. I have two hundred dollars every two weeks for food for five people. you tell me if this counts as going hungry??

I mean we get every meal. but this time of the month a week after pay day...and a week out from pay day....I am for sure getting creative on what we are eating.....side dishes become meals.....I make potatoes with everything.

I think it is hard to see poverty ow days.

you would never guess looking at my kids or I....that we have.... -296.54 in our bank account right now.

I try very hard to make my kids feel like we got it all.

They dont get name brand anything.

They dont get treats really unless I make them from scratch.

I dont ask for anything assistance wise other then Medical for my kids.

I know we could receive WIC and I could probably get a food card out of DSHS. But I know there are families that are worse off then we are.

Never Assume it is not out there. Because it is closer then you think. And it is coming in so many forms now...hunger, homelessness.....I see business men and women with families saying good night to their kids in their mini vans. This is no joke....it is life for many now.

My kids will never know starving. I would rather die myself then have them go through that...but I am not gonna lie...just trying to keep food in their mouths can be trying sometimes:)

10 moms found this helpful

Not for years, but when I was a young single mom I would have very little food in my own apartment, maybe milk in the fridge for my son and cereal in the pantry. I was working but not getting any child support and the only assistance I had at the time was medical, I am not sure whether I did not qualify for food stamps, or possibly I was just young and dumb and did not know to apply. Luckily I lived in a small town and lived close to my Aunt and my Grandmother, I would leave work on my lunch break and eat lunch with my Grandma, my son would eat breakfast and lunch at a daycare, then for dinner we would go to my aunts home, I even did laundry at my aunts house. I made sure my child was never hungry, but it was tough times. I would not want to relive it. I have a tendency to want full pantry and freezer now. I have never forgotten what it was like to have almost nothing, if it had not been for the generosity of family we would have been desperate.

9 moms found this helpful

Mine isn't. I wouldn't have the internet, if he were. I do live in an area where MANY are. I live right next to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state. I think you're a bit naive, and I don't mean that to be rude. I know for a fact that the free lunch is the only meal many kids gets. My church makes sack lunches and gives them to children in the apartment complex down the road in the summer months. Otherwise, they would have no meals during the summer. Drive to the poorest parts of your state and work in a foodbank, you would be shocked.

9 moms found this helpful

I think you'd have to poll a more diverse population than this.
I just watched a show on TV about homeless families in CA that live in motels. Sometimes those kids only get the free food they get at school.

Let's not forget the simple fact that there are poor kids in America that miss questions on tests like: What meal do you eat in the evening? How many meals are in a day? Because, guess what? They've never had 3 meals a day! With the working poor, hunger is always just within arms length.

8 moms found this helpful

I teach at a community college, and yes, there really are children/people that are going hungry. My students are technically adults but I have encountered quite a few who are living in cars or are homeless and they often go without food. My church volunteers/cooks food once a week for the local soup kitchen and there are children there as well.

Our campus is now a food bank distribution site because it is centrally located and because so many of our students need the services. BTW many of them are "working poor"...they have jobs but the cost of living is so high that they cannot afford even some of the basics.

8 moms found this helpful

Probably none of "us" on here........I mean we all have computers and internet so we can't be that bad off.

I'm sorry....I'm in a mood today. But I do know people (not friends) that complain about how they are going to buy groceries, but still go get their nails done.......

7 moms found this helpful

I worked at a school where 60 percent of our students got free and reduced lunches. I have witnessed kids trying to hide food in their pockets so they could eat it later. And it's frustrating because you see all the "stuff" that so many of them seem to have. Our principal had us read the book Understanding Poverty. It explains that a symptom of poverty is to purchase "stuff" so that you appear better off than you are. This may be shoes, cell phones, computers or DVDs. It makes you feel less poor to have stuff you imagine "rich" families having. And there are lots of ways to get that stuff. People in that situation have a hard time thinking long term. Many of our students also come from families where mom and dad did not speak English. They often feared the government and authority (whether they were "legal" or not) or had no clue how to go about getting help. It's sad because I think there really are people going to bed hungry. Even sadder still that I think many of those people are not getting the help they need. Whether it's because others are scamming the system, they don't know how to ask for help or their pride won't let then, I am not certain.

7 moms found this helpful

We struggle to make ends meet some months--not in danger of going hungry but it's hard to make all the bills! It costs so much just to live with the basics that sometimes I can't imagine how other people do it. We have to pay rent, gas, electric and water and those can add up to quite a lot. That's not counting luxuries like cell phone, cable and internet.

I noticed the price of groceries went up recently. We budget $100 a week for groceries for a family of 3 and I do not buy junk food or extras we don't need. I try to have meat for every dinner, plus some kind of rice or potato and a vegetable. Lunches aren't fancy, sometimes they are just dinner leftovers or sandwiches. We don't buy chips (expensive!) or pre-packaged desserts. It's hard to keep it under $100!

So while I don't personally know people who are starving, I can see how easily it could happen.

I did go to school in an area that also had quite a few poor kids. They're not kidding when they say that lunch is the only meal they get. I knew a kid who would eat everyone's leftovers at lunch, he'd just walk around the room asking if he could have what was left of your sandwich or whatever. I remember the teacher would invite him in before the rest of the kids were allowed in and she'd feed him breakfast out of her own pocket. That was back when teachers could do that type of thing (now they could get sued!). She also bought him underwear because he smelled bad.

That same school now I know has washers and dryers in the school. They will take kids who's uniforms are too dirty and wash the uniforms at the school and give them a loaner uniform for the day. These kids don't have parents to do their laundry, or they can't afford it. They also school year-round because some of the kids won't get food in the summer if they didn't and they are also left at home alone while the parents work.

It happens, and it happens right in our own neighborhoods.

6 moms found this helpful

Christy P: Please DO call CPS for those children. Especially if they are so desperate for food that they are sharing a candy. That is just sad. Please call and get those children some help and in the meantime hand those kids a sandwich!

I have known kids too that all they got to eat all day was what was served at school, or it was the only some what nutritious meal they got. My own nephew even. I also remember having to get free lunches or reduced lunches as a child. My family was poor, we had to go without a lot of things, and stretch our budget as far as we could. And my parents were the "working poor". I even remember having to go to the food bank because we couldnt afford to buy food. It was really hard.

I think part of the problem is, that even though some are working but barely making ends meat, is that they dont know how to be resourceful. Like, buying generic brands that are cheaper, shopping at Goodwill for things, etc.

And now because of the way the economy is its hard for people to even BECOME the working poor, because they arent educated, or someone wont give them a chance to work.

So I think its great that they are doing things to help right here in America. You may not see it but there are so many that really are hungry, etc. They need to continue to do more to help people help themselves.

And even though school lunches arent the most nutritious thing, so be it, because its better than nothing right?

6 moms found this helpful

I know over the summer my sons school offered free meals so children who depended on them during the school year could still eat something. My best friend is a single mom and she has told me before that if the school didn't do breakfasts and lunches she did know how her son would eat.

6 moms found this helpful

Amanda W. you should read the book A Girls Guide to Homelessness. you can't judge a person situation just because they have a computer of a cell phone or any of those. Should someone sell their laptop for food? Food will last a little while but if you have a laptop you can go to one of the many places with free internet connestions to apply for jobs and have someway for an employer to contact you, which will provide a lot more. Any way to answer the question. Even though we do have a lot of programs to help, alot of people are to proud to take advantage of them, and alot of kids whose parents are on drugs and who don't care enough and to feed them.
ETA: Goverment programs so not take more of you bills in to consideration. When I was having problems with my pregnancy and had to leave work and my fiances paycheck was not enough to cover my bills and his we applied for food stamps and got approved, but it was for $30 a month...that's a dollar a day. and I was reading how much some moms on here spend on groceries...we spend about $40 a week on three (soon to be four!) people and we have enough. My mom sometimes spend $20 for three people, and she has plenty as well.

6 moms found this helpful

I assume there are people like me out there who are going through the same thing I went through as a kid. My mother divorced twice when I was between the ages of 10 and 16. We went to live with my grandparents and were on the school lunch program. I don't know how poor we were, but I'm sure it helped a lot. We were also on the school lunch program when I was in high school and I know we didn't have much variety in the food. Before the 2nd divorce, I was also on the lunch program, when we started school, but for the summer before school - no such luck. I had a paper route and could feed myself at the little diner across the street when I wanted to. But I lost 11 lbs in 3 months.

Anyone can be poor, it doesn't take much.

6 moms found this helpful

There are a lot of people going hungry. As for lunch programs, these kids starve during school breaks, summer... There are outreach programs sending lunch home for these kids, but many of their loser parents steal their kids food.

Also, a lot of destitute families don't qualify for food stamps, or don't know how to apply. There are many homeless and transient families as well. Then there are the mountain/rural families that get little to no help either.

My friend was one of those starving kids. He ate fried baloney with cheese for years and was as thin and unhealthy as a rail. Uncaring, selfish parents who squandered their money, didn't qualify for assistance and cps never got involved. A lot of families fall through the cracks.

I had another friend like this. She did qualify for food stamps, but it was barely enough to feed her family of 5. Her husband worked construction, so the jobs were few and far between. She couldn't work b/c she couldn't get a job that would pay enough for her kids to go to preschool. The first time I walked in her house, I was floored. Not a single piece of furniture save a broken table and one metal folding chair. No couches, no beds, nothing. I looked in her kitchen. She had a sack of potatoes, some apples, a few onions and that was IT.

Then, there are the OTHER families... who have gym memberships, go to the movies, get new tvs and cars... then come begging family for grocery money, b/c they don't or won't figure out how to budget their limited income.

As for us, we have a hard time, we don't qualify for any assistance but I defiantly skrimp on groceries and other things. But I count ourselves fortunate to be able to still eat nutritiously.

6 moms found this helpful

Sadly, yes a whole lot of kids in this country are going hungry everyday and given the current economic situation that isn't going to change anytime soon. I live in an area of huge financial disparity. We have some of the most well off towns in the country in the same county with some of the poorest. I try to help the local food bank (which is experiencing shortages like never before) whenever we can. The kids and I are going to start helping pack boxes a few days a month as well.
I guess American children would want for nothing if all those loser parents had it figured out like 8kidsdad. Maybe instead of following the food bank truck to find out if undeserving people are taking advantage you should help them to feed people. WWJD?

6 moms found this helpful

Did you know that most Enlisted Military Families are on WIC & reduced/free lunches? Many are also on food stamps.

THOSE kids would go hungry without these programs.

People talk about how little teachers make. Well, an E1 only makes about 12 or 13k per year. Officers also usually make far less.

Did you know that most low level Officer Military families QUALIFY for WIC & free/reduced lunches. But most of them don't apply for it. Instead they have Mayo Sammies (because there's not enough money for lunch meat) and kool-aid and mac'n'cheese. Because Officers' families (even low level, making an average of 25-30k per year) are sooooo much better off than Enlisted families that it's an "ethos" thing. You don't 'take away' from those who have less. These kids don't usually go hungry, but many of them are *literally* starving. Suffering from minor-major malnutrition.

5 moms found this helpful

The kids who live in the house that backs up to mine. I worry about them. Their parents are NOT parenting them. They've got the "malnourished belly" and they're ALWAYS filthy.

This last weekend one of them stole a candy right out of my son's hand and they were passing it back and forth eating it like it was going to disappear any second.

I'm contemplating calling DFS or CPS.

And using the computer is not really an indicator...I'm at work ;o)

5 moms found this helpful

There are kids actually going hungry in this country- some are in the back country but some could be the kid next door. Parents are losing their jobs and homes at an alarming rate in this country there are kids living in motels, under viaducts, in shacks and homeless shelters. There is help but sometimes/most times not enough help there are parents working two and three jobs just to keep a roof over their head and the help provided is not enough to keep an entire family fed. We worry so much about the kids in other parts of the world when there is poverty in your own back yard. Instead of wondering if this is really true- Do something.

Christy P - You need to make a call in the mean time you need to help those kids-

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Yes, there sadly are. Here are some "motel kids" in Anaheim, CA -- home of Disneyland and located in Orange County, CA where I live (which, in general terms, is a county that has many well-off people and is certainly not the "back woods:"

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/03/24/cnnheroes.serato.mot...

That chef is a saint in my book.

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I think there are a lot of different reasons. Some people earn too much for food stamps but not enough to pay their basic bills, especially when there are medical problems that cause high bills. Other reasons are neglect, homelessness, and mental illness. My cousins went many days without food growing up because their mother was mentally ill. They lived in and out of motels and oftentimes she wouldn't even get out of bed for days I would go over there as often as possible to bring them something to eat (I was a teenager so could only do so much). They didn't go to school so they weren't able to get the free lunches even.

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I worked in youth development for almost a decade. Most of our children were from low income families. Most were eligible for free lunch at school. So they had breakfast and lunch at school. Many of them did not get dinner at home. We learned to keep things like peanut butter and jelly, hotdogs, bananas that Dole donated by the crate, etc. at the clubs so they could have "dinner" before they went home. Our staff purchased these items with their own money.

Is it purely poverty or misplaced priorities that cause children to go hungry? I think it is both, sometimes on or the other, sometimes a combination of both.

I currently work in public housing and see many families that are "working poor" struggling to make ends meet, and running out of money at the end of the month. I also see families that spend what few dollars they have on luxuries and fripperies.

But, I do believe that hunger is a real issue in our country - silent and insidious and devastating.

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Please keep your audience in mind. You are asking a bunch of moms who have regular access to a computer, so your database is limited right off the bat. I imagine no kids of mamasource moms are going hungry. But we are a literate, fairly well-off population.

As to the rest, I think the reasons for hunger are similar to the reasons for poverty, namely very varied. Please keep in mind that obesity and malnutrition often go hand in hand, so a very fat child, while he or she may not be hungry in the sense of an empty stomach, might be nutritionally starved. I find it hard to imagine that there are communities in the US where children are dying as part of our war on drugs, and yet I know it must be true. Just because you and I don't see it doesn't mean it is not there, unfortunately.

edit: Reading some of the reponses here brought tears to my eyes. My heart goes out to all of you struggling to feed your families.

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years ago I was a single mom. I was divorced with a child. I applied for help and for college. I don't know what it is called now but back then I had AFDC and food stamps. I was a 'displaced homemaker' is how the pell listed me. I was going to school to make a better life for me and my son (exdh and I had an act of severance so no child support) It helped mightily.
Then there came a time into my second semester and I was given these two choices: quit school and go work in their work program and keep these benefits. Stay in school and lose the benefits. In the work program you were required to work two nights. I had no one that could babysit at night at the time. The few daycares that did night care cost more than I would make in their program.
I did many things to stay in school and provide for me and ds.
Now my dc and dgc get food stamps and medicaid. My dc had a horrid car wreck this spring and injured the back. Partial break. Job was warehouse labor and of course he lost it due to being injured. DC SO is not able to be around for awhile so DC is a single parent. DC just three weeks ago found a new job. Without food stamps and WIC I don't know what DC would have done.
We have a church out here that does the summer lunch program, so there is definitely a need.
25 years ago I worked as a sub. We are an agricultural/ranch/farm community - this is part of the information, we had a lot of farm workers that didn't make much. A lot of the kids we had in the prek the free breakfast or lunch would often be the only meal the kids had for the day. It breaks my heart to know that 25 years later that it still happens ;(
So yes there are hungry people out there:(

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No, neither my child nor I have ever gone hungry. However, I remember my dad telling me that when he was a child free lunches at school was the only meal he would eat. He used to steal food from stores and dream about sandwiches. He told me it was a combination between being poor and being neglected. He was eventually taken away from his parents when he was young and transferred to his older sister's custody. I

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Oh Amanda how many posts have we read where people are looking for food? Apparently the internet is the last to go, after food.

I think the problem is nutrition. I wish there was a way to make food stamps only work on things that are sorta good for you as opposed to junk food. :(

I don't think people are starving but the problem is there are sooo many people that have so many debts that even though they make too much for government support they can't feed their families without losing their house.

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My daughter's school got some grant money starting last year and is able to offer free breakfast for all students, regardless of family income. I have heard that seventy percent of the children in our district qualify for free or redced lunch. I know of two districts in my county that offer free breakfast and lunch during the summer to anyone 18 and under. You wouldn't know it to look at these children. It is a very silent suffering and very easy to ignore, which is not right.

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I guess it just depends on the person. I agree with Amanda, that I've seen some people on foodstamps and WIC yet they have diamonds larger than mine, drive a mercedes, carry a Gucci purse, and their manicure and hair look beyond beautiful. I worked in a grocery store for many years, so have seen them all. One day I see Gucci diamond lady paying with foodstamps. The gal behind her is wearing a torn tank top, has split ends, no makeup, and carrying a baby who also pays with the foodstamps. So I can see how some people really do have hungry babies/kids yet some just don't put food as the priority or want the freebies if they can get them.

After working at the grocery store, I became a teacher. MOST kids at one school where I taught were on free lunch and free breakfast. Most ate both meals and wouldn't have gotten the protein/veggies at home. At home, mom buys what's affordable and tasty that she knows how to cook/serve. So it's rice, beans, tacos, sodas, koolaid, chips. I mean geez, soda is cheaper than milk! Why not buy that? The kids like it better anyhow. I think that's the thinking of a lot of these moms. Granted, I worked in a very poor area. Most students were children of illegal immigrants. So they likely came to this country with nothing in their pockets. One mom told me that her husband paid the "coyote" $1500 to bring her here, $1500 to bring her daugther here, so they were out $3000 which is a LOT of money for them. Shoot. That's a lot of money for me. So every meal they could get for free they would get. They did not get WIC or Foodstamps b/c she thought if shetold anyone she was illegal, we'd deport her. She was very scared to tell us she was illegal.

One student I had (3rd grader) weighed more than I did. MANY of my 3rd graders weighed over 100 lbs. So I know what you're saying about the obesity issue. I think it's b/c junk food is cheaper. So mom has $100 worth of food stamps, and can buy one lb of strawberries or two big bags of potato chips. Well she chooses the potato chips!

I'll stop there. Sorry for my unorganized thinking today. But wanted to put my two cents in.

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My daughter and I are not going hungry, but many people in the US really are. Hunger in the US may not look the same as the hunger/starvation that is happening in Africa/Somalia right now. But it does exist all around us. There are terms used called "food security" or "food insecurity". In 2010, 85.5 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year, and 14.5 percent of households were food insecure at least some time during that year.

Being food secure means having access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.

Here is more info: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/

Here is an article about the continued increase in the use of food shelves: http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/December10/Findings/Fo...

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My husband is selfemployed business owner, he never knows when he will get paied(last time it was in july) we do not quolify for goverment help .He has a second job at the Homeless shelter, gets paied $1000 a month......so after the basic bills are paied with 3 kids not much is left for food, we had times when we had to mix flour and water and fry it for dinner. WE always scrape things for the kids, but yes we have gone without.
PS we are using free internet off the coffee shop next door, and have an old old old computer that hubby needs for work.

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Praise be to God I can honestly say no. BUt had mu husband's employment gap from consulting gone on another 30 days there was a point we would have. But I would have applied for Food Stamps. I was like 15 days away from doing that when he got another gig.
But as has been stated below it is a common thing that sadly does happen. Sadly it is not always jut poverty. But neglect and health issues can play a role as well. I know of many families that count on the backpacks that go home on fridays to ensure all fo their children get something to eat over the weekend.

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I hear from a friend in the inner city that a lot of parents are illegal and don't want to risk getting caught and therefor do not ask for free lunches at school.

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Interesting question. I haven't read the answers yet.

Yes, I do beleive there are people who are going hungry. However, I the numbers that I see quoted do seem high.

You mention kids. I know, and I've seen kids who go hungry mostly because their parents are too lazy to take care of them. A big debate a few years back in our community about starting a school breakfast program, which we now have. The bottom line is I can prepare a breakfast, more nutritional, for less than the cost of a reduced price breakfast. For the parent, it's just easier to have them eat at school. Yes, I totally agree with the free lunch is the only "meal" the child gets, although I also beleive it's not the only "food" the child has.

I also know a few families who are hurting. I wouldn't describe them as going hungry, but they do need to get creative at meal time and they eat a lot of pasta.

I've helped out at food kitchens a few times over the years and have seen first hand how many people depend on that free meal. I know a few families that need to be very creative at meal time and eat a lot of pasta, pancakes, and other inexpensive foods.

Okay, yes there is WIC, Foodstamps etc... However growing up in a household full of drug addicts we would go without food for days. Thank GOD for the churches for helping my grandmother feed us food. My poor grandmother had 9 children 7 of 9 used drugs. All the children would end up in her house. Our parents will come collect the checks gave her a few dollars that the later stoled from her later.

I do not know how this program works. However, I do hope they get the food to the homes so the kids get to at least have a meal.

I am very happy that they are trying to have parents drug tested before giving them any assistance. I hope this goes through. Now they will see who is suffering. God willing get these people help and the CHILDREN have better lives.