By Sarah Schirmer | Corporate Gifts Developer
Happy Spring.
Need and distribution of emergency food continues at an elevated level but thanks to generous people like you the Oregon Food Bank Network continues to help those in need in Oregon and Clark County, Wash.
Every year our advocacy department examines the root causes of hunger, speaking with individuals faced with food insecurity. Through OFB's root cause work, specifically, the Hunger Factors Assessment (HFA), we know that approximately 33% of those receiving emergency food are children.
Here is just one report provided by our Voices project.
"I have a hard time trying to explain to my daughter why people on TV have big fancy meals. I tell her TV meals are make-believe, 'Those aren't real children, those aren't real people, that not real Thanksgiving dinner... it's all fake and plastic.' I feel bad because I can't give her what all the other kids have. So I just don't eat, because I don't ever want her to fell like she's hungry or starving."
Every day, I feel guilty if I eat three bites of food in the whole day because I feel like I'm taking food away from my daughter. If I eat and then I can't feed her tomorrow, I'm taking food away from my child. It's more important that she eats. She's my baby. She knows that if there's any food in the house, she can have it right away.
But now when she sees that mommy isn't eating, she mimics me. I'll take a small bite and I'll chew on it for 10 minutes, and she only takes the three bites that I'm taking. And that's real hard. She says, 'Momma, we have to save the food; and I tell her, 'No, we've got plenty of food. Just eat your plate.' She says, 'Mommy, you've got to eat; and I lie and say, 'I am eating.'
Randie, Tillamook, Oregon.
30 percent of households with children that receive food from a partner agency in the Oregon Food Bank Network report cutting or reducing the size of a child's meal. Of those, 37 percent do this almost every month.
This is the harsh reality of food insecuirty in Oregon. Through your support we can continue to keep a steady supply of nutritious emergency food and help to alleviate the burden for people like Randie.
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
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