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Local View: Childhood hunger a reality Nebraska cannot ignore

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By SARAH ANN LEWIS and JEN HERNANDEZ

Monday, Apr 02, 2007 - 06:45:28 pm CDT



Six-year-old Libby Benkins understands the hunger of her classmates. According to the Nebraska Camp Fire Web site, for her birthday Libby requested that in lieu of gifts, friends bring a contribution for Camp Fire USA’s Snack Pack Program. And Libby is not alone in her birthday wishes. Mallory Grote, another Nebraska student, asked for the same gift on her own birthday last August.

In recent years private organizations have recognized and responded to the need for food security by establishing innovative programs to feed children.

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For example, The Camp Fire Snack Pack program provides child-friendly, nutritious food for more than 300 children over the weekends. Each child in the program receives a backpack full of food kids can take home every Friday. On Mondays, the children return the empty backpacks to be refilled and distributed again that week.

Why does this program exist? Because professionals involved in the lives of Nebraska’s students have found that the food sent home in backpacks is often the main source of food for the children for the entire weekend.

And Camp Fire is not alone in feeding hungry school children. The Omaha and Lincoln Food Banks have partnered with national and local food manufacturers and distributors to meet the nutritional needs of children as well. Each week, volunteers prepare thousands of sacks of food to be sent home on Fridays in backpacks of students attending select schools in Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs.

Clearly, a need among Nebraska’s school children for food security exists. Area students and private organizations have begun to respond to this need and now it is time for the Nebraska Legislature to further support these efforts by adequately funding the School Breakfast Program.

The opportunity to do this is before them now. In January, Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill introduced LB73, and has since made it her priority bill.  This bill seeks to restore the full state fiscal incentive offered to schools participating in the school breakfast program, allowing more schools across the state to participate.

In 1975, the federal government established the School Breakfast Program, which reimburses schools for each breakfast served. Like many other states, Nebraska stepped in and committed an additional 5 cents per breakfast reimbursement. Combined, these reimbursements pay for the food, meal preparation and staff supervision.

Currently, Nebraska schools receive a lump sum, and when it runs out, which it usually does in April, it runs out.  The problem is, the lump sum is not enough so that all Nebraska schools can participate in the program, and many do not. In 2003, statutory language relating to school breakfast reimbursements changed and Nebraska schools have not been receiving adequate funds for the program.

This lack of sufficient funding has created an obstacle for some schools to offer breakfast. Out of 1,018 schools that participate in the lunch program, only 624 schools participate in the breakfast program. The result is that for too many children, the lunch provided by the school is their only meal of the day.

Missing out on breakfast puts children at risk. Research shows that children who eat breakfast show improved cognitive function, attention and memory. Research also shows that children who eat breakfast at school perform better on standardized tests then those who skip breakfast. The benefits of the School Breakfast Program are invaluable, from reducing obesity and reducing behavioral problems to improving school performance.

Adequately funding the School Breakfast Program by passage of Sen. McGill’s priority bill, LB73, would help Nebraska take one more step in combating childhood hunger and make an investment in the health and education of Nebraska’s children. Now is the perfect time for state senators to listen and learn from a 6-year-old like Libby Benkins who learns each day at school that childhood hunger in Nebraska is a reality we cannot ignore.

Sarah Ann Lewis of Omaha is policy coordinator of Voices for Children in Nebraska. Jen Hernandez of Lincoln is community educator at Nebraska Appleseed Center.


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Sean1 wrote on April 2, 2007 9:55 am:
" Let's get to the root of the problem. If you can't feed em, don't breed em. I'm tired of everyone dipping into my pockets to solve their lack of planned parenting. I fed, clothed and kept a roof over the heads of my children with a minimum, and often lacking, paycheck and the required assistance of the government. "

 whatever wrote on April 2, 2007 11:21 am:
" Too many families with too many mouths to feed seems like an issue of self discipline. No one wants to see anyone starve or go hungry, but pressure must be put on the families that are the problem to get their act together. As long as tax dollars are involved we all have a say in how the needy conduct themselves. "

 Dave M wrote on April 2, 2007 1:32 pm:
" So what do you do if circumstances change so you can't "feed'em" long after you've already "bred 'em"? Hell I'm no fan of squalling kids but I doubt the Modest Proposal solution would go over all that well even with me. Maybe we should take away kids from any family that lost a job and can't keep up, eh? Let's put 'em in a workhouse maybe. "

 Put my money where their mouth is! wrote on April 2, 2007 2:34 pm:
" I'd rather my tax dollars go to children any day as opposed to roads to nowhere, the use of the electric chair, and the Governor's proposed tax cuts targeted at families who make over $329,000 a year. LB 73 is a wise investment with one of the cheapest fiscal notes the Legislature will see this session. Thank you, Senator McGill. "

 Emmanuel wrote on April 2, 2007 3:07 pm:
" It is not the child's fault that his or her parents don't have the resources, are irresponsible, etc. Don't punish the child for the parents problems. "

 smoores wrote on April 3, 2007 10:35 pm:
" Where is Social Services? I believe it is already part of the city/state budgets that we already fund in some way or other. If we have children who are not being fed or otherwise cared for properly, it is part of their job to take care of the situation. If the family cannot care for their children, then they need to be temporarily removed to either a relative who can provide the care, a foster family, and if neither of the previous are available...perhaps it is time to consider the benefits of orphanages again for temporary and permanent situations. "

 Annie wrote on April 4, 2007 8:26 am:
" Orphanages? Oh, please, no. That's a hard-knock life. "

 WD wrote on April 4, 2007 11:07 am:
" Just another example of Nebraska's near highest taxes and STILL CANNOT FEED THE CHILDREN. No the leadership sure wouldn't want to get industry in so people have decent jobs to feed their family & put a roof over their head. No No we mustn't do that, it would taint the city of Lincoln. But leadership MUST spend ALL the money they can rake from the taxpayers for their pretty mediums and sidewalks and flower gardens. Prioritites? Its to scrape all the city & state can from the citizens and spend it like theres no end. What a shame. I've worked with the homeless for years and there ARE STATES & CITIES that don't have Lincoln's high taxes and CARE for their citizens. Frankly I'm ashamed to say I live in Nebraska. "

 smoores wrote on April 4, 2007 11:15 am:
" I grew up in a time we still had Whitehall active in Lincoln. I have 2 cousins who were adopted from Whitehall. In light of what some children in foster care go through, I think Whitehall was an excellent alternative. This keeping the "family" together at all costs has put a very high price tag on society when you consider the lack of care and upbringing that some of these children receive and the kind of adult that is, therefore, put out into society. I am not saying that ALL children in tenuous situations should be candidates, but for those in households where drug abuse, child abuse, or chronic lack of care prevail...an orphanage, when no other practical alternative exists, would be better than leaving them with irresponsible parents. "

 d wrote on April 4, 2007 12:06 pm:
" This is what happens when Republicans run your country. It's more important to spend our money on wars in foreign countries and give huge tax breaks to corporations and the rich than to make sure our own American children are adequately fed... "

 David B wrote on April 4, 2007 12:33 pm:
" I think people/schools need to applying for grants with Conagra to feed the children. Look at their foundation webpage. Their number one priority seems to be to make sure that no child goes without a meal. "

 Ms. Mayer wrote on April 4, 2007 2:22 pm:
" First of all, thank you to the writers of this piece for highlighting one of the major issues of concern that face our children today. And to Sean1, who responded to this article - it appears that at one time you, also, needed some assistance from our government to get through each month. It might interest you to know that in recent years the assistance available to hard-working Nebraska families has been cut time and time again. As a result, with each coming paycheck, a parent must decide what it most important: providing food, clothing, OR a roof over the heads of their children. With the rising costs of health care, child care, utility bills, gasoline, etc., these decisions are more and more difficult. Nebraska's low-income families (90% of whom have jobs and work very hard to provide for their children) deserve to have some relief - whether that relief comes from health care provided to their children, child care subsidies, or by means of making sure their children do not have to go hungry. It is my sincere hope that our legislature pass the school breakfast bill. "

 TC wrote on April 5, 2007 8:59 am:
" Hey folks, they are CHILDREN!!!!!! No matter who brought them into the world, or why, or what, they are children and they must be cared for. If our society cannot take care of those who need our care and compassion, then we should all be ashamed. "

 Isabella wrote on April 5, 2007 10:06 am:
" Great point TC! "The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children - their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued and included in the families and societies into which they are born." "

 Nina wrote on April 5, 2007 10:17 am:
" I'm with TC - this grandma makes sure to contribute generously and regularly to the community food pantry, especially choosing nutritious items that appeal to children. But if I had the resources I would gladly fix food (dispensed with hugs and kisses) for them all. God bless their little hearts. "If you do this unto the least of these, you do it unto me," Jesus says. "

 dtw wrote on April 5, 2007 1:07 pm:
" D,you are the smartest person alive. Please run for office. I will vote for you. You seem to have more common sense then the entire Fox network combined. "

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