An annual study from Feeding America shows that children in Northern Nevada are more likely to face hunger than the general population.
"There's just more mouths to feed in those households, and that's why kids are more at risk of hunger," said Jocelyn Lantrip of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. "But the problem is larger here in Northern Nevada; one in five children don't have the food they need and that is too high of a percentage. That affects education, these kids' health; how can they learn if they're hungry?"
The Food Bank has been helping 92,000 people a month for the last two years.
"What the study also found is 29% of people who are food insecure don't qualify for any type of federal nutrition program, any kind of assistance," Lantrip said. So food banks are really the only thing that can keep them going at the end of the month."
A good economy isn't helping with food insecurity in the area.
"We're hearing from our clients over and over that rents are high, expenses are high and medical care is expensive," Lantrip said. "All of those things add up to food insecure families. People have to pay all of those bills; they can't pay half of their rent or half of their electric bill but they can buy half as much food, and that's exactly what happens. People are struggling."
Families face another challenge during the summer.
"For a lot of families the problem gets more difficult in the summer because day care costs go up they're not getting free lunch at school, so budgets get even tighter," Lantrip said.
The Food Bank runs a program called Kids Cafe to help bridge the gap during the summer months.
"It operates after school during the school year and in the summer we do the same thing in parks, rec centers and libraries," Lantrip said. "We work with community partners to make that happen so there are a lot of opportunities for kids to have free meals in the summer."
The Food Bank is always looking for volunteers and donations.
"There's a lot of ways to get involved," Lantrip said. "One thing that's great is to let people know there are hungry people in your community right now. Get involved; you can volunteer, every dollar donated helps provide three meals to those who are hungry. This time of year is we have a lot of opportunity to source fresh produce for pennies on the pound and we can get a whole truckload of produce for very little money so that's what they do with those funds."
More information: https://fbnn.org/
