Thousands of kids from low-income families in Pettis County qualify for free school lunches.  The problem is when school is out on long weekends or holiday breaks, many of these kids go hungry. The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri is helping to break that alarming trend with the Buddy Pack. A Buddy Pack is three to five pounds of food that is kid friendly and nutritious.  Buddy packs will be given to children in need of food on Fridays before a break from school, like long weekends or holiday breaks.

Hunger is a familiar physical sensation, but can be hard to measure in a large population. Food insecurity offers an accepted method for measuring food deprivation.

The USDA defines food insecurity as a state in which “consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year.” Good shorthand terms for food insecurity are “struggling to avoid hunger,” “hungry, or at risk of hunger,” and “hungry, or faced by the threat of hunger.” Basically, food insecurity is never knowing when you're going to get your next meal. It's something that many people in our area are affected by - and may be silently dealing with it every day.

The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri will be at the Wal Mart in Sedalia on November 21st, accepting monetary donations. By doing your weekly shopping then, you can help area kids fight hunger. The Food Bank will also have a table set up for food donations, and those will go to the Open Door.

The best part about this event on November 21 is that all of the money will stay right here in Pettis County. Sedalia alone has 4,000 students who qualify for this program, and that is only in the elementary and middle schools.

Come out November 21 and help give back to the community. You never know who you might be helping - it could be someone you and your family loves.

Foodily yours,
Behka

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