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Schaumburg A.M. Rotary president Jim McKenzie (left) and fellow Rotarians present a $1,000 donation
to Schaumburg Twp. Food Pantry Coordinator Barb McGinn (right) to help stock its shelves this holiday season.

 

America has long been known as the land of plenty, but in more recent times “plenty” is not a word that would accurately describe the quantity of available food found in a food insecure household.

 

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)  defines food security as access by all people at all times to a sufficient food supply that is high quality, nutritious and safe, in order to maintain an active, healthy life.  By contrast, food insecurity is defined as the lack of consistent access to that food supply or the limited and uncertain ability to acquire that food by socially acceptable means.  Per USDA statistics more than 17 million children live in food-insecure households.  Lack of adequate nutrition affects children’s health and physical growth in addition to their academic and behavioral development.  School lunch programs in part address this problem but don’t solve it completely. 

   

According to “Feeding America”, the nation’s leading domestic hunger relief organization, the reality is that 1 in 6 Americans don’t have access to enough food.  The local face of hunger crosses all socio-economic boundaries and includes hard-working families and single parents, children, the unemployed and underemployed and the elderly who simply cannot make financial ends meet and who at times are forced to make hard choices when it comes to paying for housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare or food.   

  

Schaumburg A.M. Rotarians recently presented a $1,000 check to the Schaumburg Twp. Food Pantry to help feed hungry individuals and families this holiday season. This donation represents the accumulated proceeds of out-of-pocket contributions made by club members as a result of the once-a-month passing of the hat for this purpose at its club meetings.  This food pantry is a member agency of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and one of a network of food banks, pantries and soup kitchens across our nation that provides front line emergency and supplemental food assistance in their local communities.

 

For more information and statistics pertaining to hunger in America and Illinois visit http://feedingamerica.org and http://www.feedingillinois.org.