Food insecurity disproportionately affects children.
That seems odd at first. Your first thought may be, “Are there parents out there not feeding their children?” But that’s not necessarily what the statistics mean.
According to USDA data from 2021, households with children were more likely to experience food insecurity (12.5%) compared to households without children (9.4%). And within those households, adults were twice as likely to face hunger as their children, which means that adults are certainly not feeding themselves before their children.
Makes more sense now. More mouths to feed equals more money that must be spent to remain adequately fed, active, and healthy. And that’s not easy, particularly for single-parent homes (around 20% of which experience food insecurity).
At OneGenAway, we care deeply about the children in our community, just as their caretakers, teachers, friends, and family do. We are so grateful for programs that allow children access to reduced-price or free lunches at school, but we know that often, children go home in the evenings and on the weekends to an empty kitchen. That’s why we are so honored to do what we do, to come alongside families walking through challenging seasons.
OneGenAway serves in Middle Tennessee, North Alabama, and the Florida panhandle. In those states…
1 in 8 Tennesseans face hunger and 1 in 6 children.
1 in 7 Alabamans face hunger and 1 in 5 children.
1 in 9 Floridians face hunger and 1 in 6 children.1
As kids go back to school this January, let’s come together to fill that gap between 3 p.m. and 7 a.m. Let’s fill that gap between Friday afternoon and Monday morning. Let’s make up for the winter break, when maybe (and hopefully) they experienced abundance, but maybe they experienced scarcity.
No child should have to go hungry. Will you come alongside them?
If you would like to join us in fighting food insecurity, visit our Volunteer page to learn how to get involved, or provide $16 of food with every dollar you give by visiting our Donate page.
We are hopeful, and we believe that eliminating hunger is only a matter of coming together in service of one another. That hope is contagious, isn’t it?