Agencies Speaking out!
Posted 10/19/11
Thanks so much to our partner agencies speaking out in defense of essential programs used to meet the growing need of hunger in the mountains!
Agency helps meet food needs
To the editor:
McKenzie’s favorite part of the week is whenever her mother can receive a box of nutritious food from our agency. Like many others in Haywood County, Janie’s parents can be assured their child will get her nutritional needs met through our agency, even though they can’t stretch their dollars far enough to feed their families nutritious food at every meal.
Across Western North Carolina, more than 40,000 children face food insecurity — not knowing if that the family’s resources will stretch far enough to provide food for the week, or even for the next day.
Harold, the father of two, recently lost his job because of the recession and despite his best efforts has not been able to regain his financial footing. Food stamps and boxes of food he receives from his local pantry are huge assets to his family who otherwise would not have enough to eat.
“After paying my rent, utilities, gas for my truck, and my prescription medicine, I have very little left,” Harold tells us.
These are just two of thousands of stories of people in the mountains of Western North Carolina who struggle to get enough to eat. They’re the stories of our neighbors and their children who have fallen on hard times and may need the assistance of food stamps or a box of food to help get them through each week.
These essential relief programs face significant cuts by Congress that could reduce the food available to people like Harold and Janie.
We believe these nutrition programs are extremely valuable to the health of our region, and we must take action to preserve programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and food stamp benefits for our neighbors.
This help is essential in the current economy. Please support us in this effort to let our lawmakers know that we’re counting on them to work on behalf of our neighbors, and they need to do it now.
Haywood Baptist Relief Center Food Pantry
P.O. Box 628 (228 Edwards Road)
Clyde
