Tuesday, May 20, 2008 --- 4:10 p.m.

With unemployment and the price of gas and groceries on the rise, more Americans are going hungry than ever before. The Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, as well as Kids Against Hunger, have to work even harder to solicit donations in order to feed local residents due to the drop in food and cash donations.

According to USA Today, 27.5 million Americans currently rely on government aid to keep food on their tables. The number of people utilizing food stamps is also on the rise - one out of eleven Americans are eligible. Still, there are millions of Americans who require assistance but do not qualify.

In southwestern Wisconsin alone, there are 103,000 people hungry -38% of which are children. In Dane County, the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin’s Kids Cafes program has seen a steadier flow of people in need of assistance.

“We’re not seeing big spikes,” said Gina Wilson, Director of Agency Relations. “Usually people just cycle in and out. But people aren’t cycling out anymore.”

The Kids Cafes program is nationally recognized, and there are six in Dane County alone. Depending on the location, the cafes generally provide a meal a day, sometimes a snack. All Kids Cafes run yearlong.

As mentioned on the Second Harvest Web site, summer is an especially hard time for parents to provide extra meals for their children not in school, where they sometimes receive free or subsidized meals during the academic year.

Kids Against Hunger is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce the number of hungry children in the United States and to feed starving children throughout the world. It has set up food packaging operations in the United States. Meal ingredients are formulated by food scientists to provide sources of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

The Kids Against Hunger - Rock County Rotary, Inc. is the first such program in Wisconsin and the first to be operated as a Rotary Club project. On Sunday, 50 people gathered to kick off the satellite operation.

During the four hour session, 18,144 meals were packaged and prepared for delivery to local food pantries. Future packaging operations will benefit international locations.

Wilson wants to remind those in need of assistance not to call food banks such as Second Harvest directly. Food banks supply pantries with food, but do not deal with providing food on individual bases. Food pantries, however, deal with individual callers and can provide groceries for 3-5 days, depending on the location.

Anyone who needs assistance is urged to call 211 from any landline. There, callers will be directed to local food pantries and given information on other programs designed to help.

Anyone who wishes to donate to Second Harvest are encouraged to visit www.secondharvestmadison.org.

For additional information and contribution opportunities for Kids Against Hunger, please contact David Warren at davesace@charter.net.