CBS 19 - The Eye of East Texas News - Hungry East Texas Kids

Hungry East Texas Kids

By Lynne Sullivant

One in five Texas children are at risk of hunger, but in East Texas it is even worse, with one in four children at risk.

"We're growing tomatoes and peppers and onions some cilantro," said Karen Lozano.

Lozano is a mother of five. Her garden helps with grocery costs, but she also relies on the food pantry at PATH.

"Kids need to eat. It's like they're hungry all the time cause they're growing. Their little bodies are growing and developing and if they don't have the right food for their body and their brains, they're just gonna be sluggish," explained Lozano.

Twenty-five percent of East Texas children are living in "food insecurity."

Angela Warren described cuts she made, "we ate sandwiches or we ate a bowl of cereal in order to get in bed at a decent hour."

Warren said the Greater Purpose Youth Center helps her make ends meet.  As a mother of four, she makes sure her kids are fed.

"As a parent, we have to sacrifice for our children. If that means we go without eating at least let the kids eat," explained Warren.

"Low income families have a difficult time feeding their family and the food they can afford tends to be the least healthy," described Robert Bush, Executive Director at the East Texas Food Bank.

Bush pointed out a common link between hunger and obesity is access to nutritious food and said, "nutritious food to children is critical for their life- long human growth and development."

Something Lozano agreed with, "if you're just giving your kids a bunch of empty calories, it's just putting more weight on them with out good food."

PATH and the GPYC are both agencies of the East Texas Food Bank.

If you are needing help with food, log on to the food bank's website, http://www.easttexasfoodbank.org/  and click on the icon, "NEED FOOD".  If you are interested in donating, you can also log onto the website and donate food, money, or volunteer in the top right corner.

Also, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in East Texas will collect food donations to benefit those at greatest hunger risk in an effort to fight hunger during the 17th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday, May 9th.  This is the nation's largest single-day food drive.  Food collected in the East Texas area will be donated to the East Texas Food Bank.

How to participate? Simply fill up the bag with non-perishable foods, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, pasta, rice or cereal next to your mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on May 9th.  Food items should be in non-breakable containers, such as boxes and cans.  The letter carriers will then collect donations from generous East Texans.