Joining the fight against poverty

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PROVIDENCE – As a U.S. Census Bureau report released Sept. 15 paints a grim picture about the nation’s increased poverty rate, La Salle Academy students have joined forces with the Rhode Island Community Bank to help combat the state’s escalating hunger problem.

According to the Census report, the nation’s official poverty rate was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009 – the third annual increase in the poverty rate. There were 46.2 million people living in poverty last year, an increase from 43.6 million in 2009 – the fourth annual increase and the largest number of individuals affected in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

The report indicates that 13.3 percent of Rhode Islanders lived in poverty in 2010, an increase of 2.2 percent from the previous year. According to the R.I. Dept. of Labor and Training, last month the state’s unemployment rate was 10.2 percent.

“The need for contributions to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank has never been greater,” said Andrew Schiff, chief executive officer of the food bank.

Recent statistics released by the Rhode Island Community Food Bank state that 60,000 Rhode Islanders rely on the food bank’s statewide network of 122 emergency food pantries to meet their basic food needs. Almost a third of the individuals served by the food bank are children under the age of 18, and 76 percent of client households are at or below the federal poverty level.

According to Cross and Passion Sister Angela Daniels, coordinator of the food pantry at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Providence, 40 new families sought assistance this month. Last year, the food pantry helped to feed 9,335 individuals from Jan.-Dec, while 6, 340 people were helped during the first nine months of this year.

“I anticipate a huge increase in the numbers we will be serving,” said Sister Daniels, adding that many of the people who visit the food pantry are elderly, unemployed or employed full time but receive minimum wage.

Sister Daniels noted that many people tell her that they never had to ask for food, but can’t afford to pay utilities and also purchase groceries. She added that some elderly food recipients come to the pantry on walkers or using a cane.

“It’s very sad,” she lamented.

More than 40 percent of client households reported that they must choose between paying for food or paying for rent, while one-fifth of those households indicate that an adult member has been unemployed during the past year and remains jobless.

Schiff added that last year the Food Bank distributed 9.4 million pounds of food to a network of nearly 250 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and non-emergency programs.

Last year, in an effort to meet the growing need for food in Rhode Island, the Food Bank launched the “Nothing” campaign to illustrate that each day thousands of Rhode Islanders eat nothing. The campaign raised $85,000, of which $35,000 was in the form of loose change returned in cans emblazoned with a label reading “Nothing – An Unnecessary Tradition,” with a picture of an empty bowl and spoon.

The cans can be purchased from the Food Bank for $2.99 – the cost of providing a family living in poverty with 10 pounds of nutritious food.