This Thursday Wear Orange for Hunger!

Each September during Hunger Action Month local organizations like the Branford Food Pantry and the Community Dining Room join forces with other community organizations and church-based groups for a national campaign to raise awareness about the food insecurity issues affecting the community. Working with the Connecticut Food Bank, in conjunction with Feeding America, the campaign strives to mobilize people to get involved in ending hunger in America. This year's campaign theme is Together We Can Solve Hunger and Branford has many examples of how working together we support these efforts to help keep children and families fed.

What is Food Insecurity?

While the term hunger is often used to put a face on a social issue, the term food insecurity is the preferred term and details varying ranges of high, marginal, low or very low food security. According to the USDA, Food Insecurity is the condition assessed in the food security survey and reports, and is a household-level economic condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food, while Hunger is defined as an individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity. 

While this delineation may be splitting hairs the problems are real and growing, and not just in cities, but here in the suburbs as well.

Take for instance some recent numbers:

* One in six Americans struggles with hunger.

* The percent of Branford's children eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) continues to grow. While the percentage was relatively flat from 2004-2008, since the 2008/2009 school year to the latest 2011/2012 data shows the number of qualifying kids has increased at a ever-quickening pace. 

* In 2010-2011, 18.8% of Branford's students qualified for FRL.

* In 2011-2012, according to End Hunger Ct, 22.9% of students qualified for FRL.

* SNAP (food stamp) recipients for the same 2011-2012 time period amounted to 1,547 in Branford.

* 31.9% of children in Branford receive school breakfast (2011-2012)

* The Community Dining Room (CDR) provided 8.3% more meals in 2012. They provide over 1,000 meals weekly and have expanded their hours to accommodate the rising demand.

* The Branford Food Pantry is sending home groceries weekly for an estimated 100 kids per month, as well as many other household makeups.

* The Counseling Center, as of June 2013, had given out 1890 gift cards to grocery stores for food.

* Because of the Bella Vista fire in New Haven that displaced 100's of residents now living in the motels around town, the CDR and the Branford Food Pantry have been inundated with new clients and are working harder than ever to provide meals and comfort for our neighbors.

How is Branford helping?

Organizations like Branford Cares, the BECC and the Trinity Church are just a few of the organizations around town that are working closely to grow awareness in the community. At the Trinity 106th Annual Church Fair on Saturday Sept. 7th from 8am-2pm, a labyrinth will be built out of canned goods. Grab the kids, bring a canned good and walk the labyrinth. 

The Branford Early Childhood Collaborative, with a donation from a local business, Fuzion Medical Aesthetic Boutique, distributed 145 backpacks filled with school supplies and hats and gloves through the Branford Food Pantry and the Community Dining Room. Not only does this help take pressure off parents stretching their dollars, but also becomes a vehicle to draw families needing further resources into the CDR and Branford Food Pantry.

According to Pat Kral, Executive Director of the Community Dining Room, "Families are working hard but just not earning enough money to make financial ends meet. The CDR is here to help bridge this gap and support families and children and their quality of life."   

Visit www.ctfoodbank.org for more ways to get involved.

And don't forget to wear Orange!