Child hunger is high in Louisiana, New Orleans area, studies show

Published: Saturday, August 27, 2011, 9:00 AM

By Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune 

 

Compared with most parts of the country, a higher proportion of families in Louisiana, as well as in the New Orleans area, don’t get sufficient amounts of food, according to two new studies on child hunger.

View full sizeEllis Lucia, The Times-Picayune archiveA student adds kiwi to his lunch plate at Cypress Cove Elementary School in Slidell in October 2008.

The findings were released this month by the Food Research and Action Center, a national anti-hunger group that focuses specifically on child hunger, and Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, whose members include local food distributors such as Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.

Each survey used different terms to define households that skip meals or ran out of groceries. But regardless of the measure, the results were high for families living in metropolitan New Orleans and Louisiana.

The Food Research survey found that the New Orleans area ranked eighth-highest among U. S. cities and Louisiana ranked seventh among states for households with children who suffered from “food hardship.”

The survey tallies rates of food hardships by counting families who responded “yes” to a Gallup poll that asked, “Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?”

Among cities, the Winston-Salem, N.C., area ranked the highest, with 34.8 percent of families with children answering yes, compared with 30.4 in the New Orleans area.

Among states, Mississippi ranked highest, with 32.5 percent of households with children responding yes. In Louisiana, 29 percent of households with children struggled with food hardship. Overall, 21 states and the District of Columbia reported more than 25 percent of households with food hardship.

The survey also broke down data by U.S. Congressional Districts. Louisiana’s 2nd District, represented by Rep, Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, ranked eighth, with 38.4 percent of families with children saying that they couldn’t afford enough food.

Feeding America’s data, outlined in its “Map the Meal Gap” study, show that, in Louisiana, nearly one in five children — 18 percent — is “food insecure,” meaning that their families worried that food would run out, bought food that didn’t last or skimped on meals. Basically, households that are food insecure experience the kind of food shortages that lead to hunger, which now, by federal definition, is no longer just a growling stomach but “discomfort, illness, weakness or pain that goes beyond the usual uneasy sensation.”

The food-insecurity rate for Louisiana’s population as a whole was a bit lower, 14.6 percent, or 644,540 people. The highest rates in the state were in East Carroll, Morehouse, Concordia, Tensas and West Carroll parishes, where rates were well over 20 percent of the total population.

The food-insecurity rate for Orleans Parish as a whole was 19.1 percent. Rates in other parishes were 15.5 percent in St. John the Baptist, 13.1 in St. Charles, 12.1 in Jefferson, 11.9 in St. Charles, 11.3 in Plaquemines and 9.4 in St. Tammany.

The Feeding America study estimated that, at $2.47 a meal, it would take an additional $266 million to adequately meet all of Louisiana’s food needs.

Katy Reckdahl can be reached at kreckdahl@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3396.

 

© 2011 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.

I know it is Sunday and we are all trying to relax but I just found this article about the upcoming elections for Mayor of New Orleans and the possible candidates.  Wonder who else will be popping out of the woodwork before the campaigns actually begin??  Read the article about the candidates here…

Any opinions?  Let me know…i would love to hear your ideas!

–Ray Reggie–

We serve lunch Monday through Thursday from 11:30 to 1:30 pm to those that qualify.

Additionally, JTRA is now serving Hot breakfast on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays from 8:30 am to 10:00 am

Just The Right Attitude Needs Your Help!

Help Ray Reggie feed the needy in New Orleans.

Time to give back.!  Give just a couple hours!  Reggie and the food bank needs you!

Kids (10 -15 w/ a parent/guardian and 16+) welcome!

–Ray Reggie–

Woman’s bad times help others

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sheila Stroup

Just the Right Attitude is more than a food bank in eastern New Orleans.

“Debra South gives out everything from hot meals to hugs,” Ray Reggie said. “She has a personal rapport with everyone. She understands what it means to need help.”

Ray Reggie (now Chairman of the Board of JTRA), managing partner with Premier Promotions, serves on the board of Just the Right Attitude along with Troy Duhon, president of Premier Automotive Group.

In 2002, when the men heard about the little food pantry Debra was operating out of her garage, they decided to offer her a space on the second floor of a car dealership. And Just the Right Attitude began to grow.

“We love her cause,” Ray Reggie said. “Everybody wanted to help.”

— Growing out of need —

The idea for the community resource began a decade ago with a trip Debra made to the food stamp office. She was a mother in her 30s fighting ovarian and thyroid cancer, and she’d had to retire from her accounting job. Her first husband had taken off, and she was surviving on disability checks and help from family and friends.

She didn’t make enough money to feed her son and daughter, but she was rudely told she made too much to qualify for food stamps.

“I felt so humiliated,” she said.

She promised God that if she got better she would find a way to help people who were hungry and struggling.

From that promise, and a few shelves of canned goods, grew a United Way agency that doles out hope and 2.5 million pounds of food a year.

When Ray Reggie asked a man what he’d do without Debra’s food bank, he answered, “I would be hungry.”

— Place to get a hand —

In April, Just the Right Attitude, with the help of Ray Reggie, moved into two buildings next to Toyota of New Orleans on the I-10 Service Road. And since then, Debra has been giving out lots of hot meals, boxes of staples and hugs….

==============================

I think it is good to remind myself why the work I do with JTRA is so important and this does. Have a Blessed day.

–Ray Reggie–

Ray Reggie shares about his involvement with the JTRA food bank with us –

RRW:  Ray, How long have you been involved with the JTRA?

Ray Reggie:  I have been involved with the JTRA since 2002.

RRW:  How did you become involved with the JTRA?

Ray Reggie:  In 2002, I was watching Fox8 news and seasoned news anchor Kim Holden ran a story about this woman who was giving food away from her garage in New Orleans East.  As she began helping more and more people she began to get pressure from the neighbors to shut it down.  I called the news anchor and asked her for a copy of the report.  When I received a copy of the report I went directly to Troy Duhon, President of Premier Automotive Group and told him I thought we should donate space to JTRA.

Premier Automotive Group agreed and  I called Debra South and told her what we wanted to do.  She thought someone was playing a joke on her at first because of my name and she said,  “What’s your name, Ray Reggie?  Is that a real name?  Is this a joke?”  I told her, “Ms. South, We want to donate space for you to run your food bank.”  After a bit more convincing that my name was Raymond Reggie and that I was for real, I promised her that I was Ray Reggie and I really was going to help her.

Troy and I called New Orleans City Council member Cynthia Willard-Lewis, an advocate for JTRA and the city council member for New Orleans East and she met us at the building space – the new home for JTRA.  Kim Holden came back out and filmed the touching moment – the moment when Troy and I met Debra South, a wonderful lady with a huge heart and a love for God!  I have been involved ever since.

RRW:   What led you to the point of becoming the Chairman of the Board?

Ray Reggie:   The Board under the direction of Debra South Jones, the founder and executive director asked me to take a leadership role and voted me in my position.  I must say, I am very honored to be the Chairman; I am also very humbled and remember that the real success of JTRA is because of Debra South Jones and her wonderful, dedicated team of employees and volunteers.

RRW:  What are some of the accomplishments that you have seen since you have been involved?

Ray Reggie:  Since I have began my time with JTRA, we recruited a very dedicated and well rounded board of directors.  We are working diligently to secure a larger facility to house the food bank that will also provide a hot meals program and a life skills program.  The board, with the help of Debra South Jones and Betty Thomas, are developing on on-site training program.  This program will train individuals a much need skill set, housekeeping and bell services for the hospitality industry.  We plan to have a model “hotel room and bath” in our new facility to give hands on training.

This training program will allow us to take under and unemployed people who really want to work and teach them a skill set and then help them get a job at a local hotel.  With tourism being the number one industry in New Orleans, the board felt that we should dedicate our focus to teaching housekeeping and bell services that will provide jobs for these people after they learn the skills needed.  Bell men  and women are in short supply in New Orleans.  We are opening a new 5 star hotel in the fall and will have an even more increased demand for maids, housekeepers and bellmen/women.

Our board has also been successful in securing additional funding sources to run JTRA.

RRW:   What kind of problems are you facing today with the JTRA?

Ray Reggie:  We face a few challenges at JTRA.  We need more food, a larger facility, more volunteers and funding partners.

Food – We get an 18 wheeler of food every Monday – which is completely distributed by Thursday, sometimes we run out of food before Thursday, so we can always use more non perishable food items.

Facility- We need a building that we can build out for our training programs with a larger kitchen for a hot meal program

Volunteers – We can always use more volunteers to help make the food baskets and it’s nice if we have volunteers to help carry the food baskets for the patrons. The boxes weigh a lot and so many people have to struggle to carry the box to their car or to the bus stop.  We could use some teenagers over the summer who want to get a work out carrying the food boxes, without having to pay for a gym membership!

Funding -  Our sponsorship and grant money has been reduced because of the economy.  We have been blessed with additional sources of funding, but to provide the hot meals and to start our life skills programs we need the support of many.  We are looking for partners who will commit to a $100 a month.  We need these partners to learn more about JTRA, come out and see what we do and how we do it and then financially support us.

RRW:   What can people do to support the JTRA?

Ray Reggie:  The JTRA is happy to receive any support that they can whether it is in the form of volunteering, donating non-perishable food items or by simply making a donation.

RRW:   How can people find out more about JTRA?

Ray Reggie:  Find out more about the JTRA by going to our website at  http://www.JTRA.org. You will see us in action!

You can also make a secure donation on our site.  I also would encourage people to come out and volunteer.  Come help us for a few hours.  Bring your kids – let them see how fortunate they are at their home.  They will learn to appreciate a full pantry and learn not to waste.  My children are regular volunteers at JTRA and they leave feeling fulfilled because they can see that they have done something good, something to help someone else.  They also have learned to have a respect for those that don’t have enough to eat and they don’t waste food.

RRW:   What can people in other cities do to help their local food banks?

The biggest thing that people can do is to get involved!  Go volunteer a few hours a week!  Your help is always needed!

You can also buy a few bags of rice, beans or canned goods and drop them off at a local food bank.  A cash (tax deductable) donation is very helpful, especially during these times.  Believe me, anything that you can do to help, no matter how small will mean a great deal to a hungry person.

So, I would just like to say, to Ray Reggie and all the others that devote their time and labor and money to America’s food banks and shelters, I thank you!

–Lisa–

“Local food bank, Just the Right Attitude (JTRA) is at capacity.  They are assisting the largest number of first time applicants in their history.  Families who formerly were in an economic position to donate to the food bank now find themselves seeking assistance.”
Full Press Release Here on OpEdNews.com

Please read this and help if you can.  Every little bit can make a big difference now and we don’t want anybody going hungry.

–Ray Reggie–

One of the most noticeable changes that is sweeping the country is that people are attempting more and more to eat healthier.  Nutrition is getting noticed and more and more people have a desire to eat only locally grown, organic food.  The Catch 22 here is that the expense of healthier food may be too much for most American’s wallets to stand at this time and it is not yet as convenient as fast foods or processed foods that can sit indefinitely on a pantry shelf.  Eating healthier means eating fresh.

A new solution could be on the horizon.  Actually, it isn’t a new concept, but an old one that is coming back around.  Here it is…you don’t have to quit your job and become a farmer to grow your own food!  Even if you have limited space or live in an apartment, you can grow some of your own food.  You can start with window boxes for an apartment.  Get together with your neighbors that are probably in the same type of situation as you and grow different things.  Then, swap and share so that everyone is getting some of everything.

For those that have more space to work with, cut that yard in half and start a big ole garden.  Plant as much as you possibly can.  If you can grow more than you can use, you can freeze and can it so you have healthy food available to you all year long.  Still have lots of extras?  Great, share it with your family, friends and neighbors.  Earn some extra money and put up a little stand somewhere to sell some of the extras.  One of the best ideas that I have heard of to do with excess food that you have grown that needs to be used up is to donate it to your local food banks.  There are food banks all across the country that are turning people away because they don’t have enough food to take care of everyone that it is need now.

Don’t let a lack of gardening knowledge stop you.  A couple of good books from the library or some searching on the internet and you can quickly learn what you need to know to get started.  So, help yourself, help others and relieve your stress by starting your garden today.

–Ray Reggie–

–Ray Reggie–

On Friday, JTRA founder and Executive Director Debra South Jones put on a huge spread with the Annual Fish Fry.  The fish fry is a favorite fund raiser for the food bank. This year they served a little over 400 meals of Fried Catfish, pasta, and green beans!  The reviews were great!

–Ray Reggie–