Hunger awareness challenge
When the final school bell rings on Friday afternoon, most students eagerly anticipate heading home to begin a weekend of sports, swimming and hanging out with friends. But for the 64% of Collier County students who rely on free breakfast and free or reduced cost lunch at school, the end of the week also marks the end of a guaranteed healthy meal until Monday morning.
Based on this fact, Meals of Hope Director of Development Katie Schweikhart Jepson created the Childhood Hunger Awareness Challenge, and invited local community leaders to participate.
Meals of Hope Packing Event
Meals of Hope is a local nonprofit started by Stephen Popper in 2007 after he helped to ship food to a poor school in Haiti. Popper soon realized that we had hungry families in our own community that would benefit from his help. He began food packing events that consisted of simple packages of dried beans and rice and macaroni and cheese fortified with protein, vitamins and minerals created by volunteers in assembly line fashion. His organization grew quickly and has fed millions of people across the United States.
The challenge Jepson created was to spend $10 on all the food, drinks and snacks consumed from 3:00 pm Friday afternoon until Monday morning at 8:00 am. Food previously purchased in the home could not be consumed, including condiments, nor could food purchased or prepared for you by someone else.
Three of the participants, Chief Stephanie Spell of the Collier County Sheriffs Department, Rabbi Adam Miller of Temple Shalom along with Jepson shared their experience with us.
Chief Stephanie Spell
Where did you buy the groceries for the challenge? I shopped at Trader Joe’s, Publix and Target. As I was driving from place to place to get the items of my list, I realized how difficult it must be for someone that does not have time or transportation to shop at several different stores to get the best deals.
What did you buy and how much did you spend? I spent $9.94 of the alotted $10.00. I purchased a pack of 7 servings of instant coffee (99 cents), a dozen eggs (99 cents), a 6 oz bag of fresh spinach ($1.99), a large fresh red pepper (99 cents), Canadian Bacon ($2.49), pint of organic half & half ($1.99) and a I used a half stick of butter (50cents).
What types of meals did you make for yourself and how did you make it palatable? I follow a very specific ketogenic nutrition plan. This is a very lo-carb diet. I knew this would be a challenge as most inexpensive foods are high carb. I stuck to my nutrition plan by eating the same meal for the 68 hour period: spinach, red pepper and diced Canadian bacon sautéed in a small amount of butter, 3 eggs scrambled and instant coffee with half & half.
What did you have to do without and did you have a splurge item? I did without the variety of protein & fat that I usually eat. I also substituted instant coffee for the brewed coffee I drink every day. I didn’t have a splurge item and was grateful for the food I did have.
If you have children at home, what was your conversation like? I do not have young children at home. However, I did have family visiting during this time and we gathered with my young grandchildren (ages 6 and 9) for a meal I prepared at home. I made the family a meal I regularly cook and then made my eggs and vegetables. I was able to have a poignant discussion with them about the challenge, food insecurity and child hunger and I know it brought a great deal of awareness to us all.
Any additional thoughts, observations, plans for social action that you would like to share? Child hunger IS hard. While I was able to sustain myself through this challenge, it was difficult to think of children with hungry bellies right here in our community- probably classmates of my grandchildren. That made my heart hurt. I’m thankful we have great organizations and caring people in our community that recognize this issue and are taking action. I support the mission of Meals of Hope and encourage anyone who is moved by this to consider donating their treasure or time to help make a difference.
Did you know that most of our teachers refrain from scheduling tests on Monday mornings? They know that some students come to school hungry from a weekend of little to no food and have a hard time concentrating. Thank goodness for backpack meals from Meals of Hope that go home discreetly and make a difference.
Rabbi Adam Miller
Where did you buy the groceries for the challenge? I purchased my groceries from Wal-mart. Before the challenge began I went online to research the best options and discover how to create the most nutritional options possible with such a limited budget. Google “Living on $10” and one finds quite a few resources dedicated to this question.
What did you buy and how much did you spend? Using the suggestions I found on-line, I tried to buy food that would provide me with sufficient protein, vitamins and necessary nutrients. I planned out my menu for the weekend carefully in advance, knowing that there would be no margin for error should I forget to purchase an item. My groceries included one dozen eggs, 2lbs of brown rice, several cans of black beans, two bananas, two apples, frozen broccoli and frozen vegetable medley. Only the fruit was fresh – and I carefully weighed the fruit pieces to make sure I could stay within my budget. (Spent $9.33)
While shopping I often looked for items that were labeled as “WIC” approved – knowing that those would be more likely to fit within my budget. I also had to carefully weigh questions about convenience vs. cost. I opted to spend slightly more on canned beans, rather than dry beans as I did not think I would have the time necessary to prep and cook the beans.
What types of meals did you make for yourself and how did you make it palatable? My menu consisted of the following: rice, black beans and frozen veggie medley for all lunch and dinner meals. Breakfast consisted of two eggs scrambled with frozen broccoli mixed in. For snacks I had hard-boiled eggs and the pieces of fruit (one egg and one fruit each day).
In hindsight, I should have purchased a small onion to add flavor to the different dishes. The meals were quite bland, and my thought was about the utilitarian nature of the food. I was just eating to survive. The taste was less important than getting enough calories and nutrition. I could feel my energy level drop over the course of the weekend.
What did you have to do without and did you have a splurge item? Through the course of the challenge I became very aware of how much our lives, particularly our social lives revolve around food. I sensed how much I take for granted – whether family meal times out on weekends, or just sitting together in front of the television and enjoying snacks while watching sports on TV.
I felt very aware throughout the experience of the temporary nature of the condition. At the end of the weekend, I would return to my normal eating habits. With that in mind, I did not feel the need to “splurge.” But for too many people living in our community, food insecurity and hunger are more than a weekend challenge. Food insecurity for children and seniors across our community are real day-to-day experiences that simply drain individuals. Knowing how hard it must be for those individuals and families to make ends meet and put food on the table is quite a sharp contrast from the “paradise” that we live in.
If you have children at home, what was your conversation like? My children were surprised to learn how many kids live with food insecurity in our community. They noticed when I was not able to eat the same food they were having around the kitchen table. And when I did not go with them out to lunch, knowing that I could not order from the restaurant.
We talked about the fact that we should not take our food for granted. They asked how kids can help. Through our discussion we explored actions then can take, such as avoid food waste, as well as using their tzedakah (charity) money to give to organizations like Meals of Hope, the Harry Chapin Food Bank, and Collier Harvest.
Any additional thoughts, observations, plans for social action that you would like to share? Living off $10 of food for the weekend is a sobering reminder of the real challenges facing thousands of children in our community every week. Most of those children live in families with few resources and the real daily crisis of food insecurity. Even the ability to travel back and forth to the store without worrying about fuel costs is a luxury.
I hope that by sharing my experience with others this has raised further awareness of the real needs that exist here in our local community. Not just in Immokalee, but all across Collier County. Together, one positive act at a time, we can help feed the hungry in our community and repair the world around us. I ask everyone who reads this to commit to doing at least one act to address food insecurity in Collier County. Bring a bag to a local food collection, participate in a Meals of Hope packing event, volunteer at a local food pantry or the Food Bank. Be part of making our world whole and holy.
Katie Schweikhart Jepson
Where did you buy the groceries for the challenge? I went to 3 different stores: The Dollar Tree; Lucky’s Market and Walmart
What did you buy and how much did you spend? I bought a bunch of radishes; a head of lettuce; a lemon; eggs; an onion; a can of black beans; and coffee. (Spent $6.35)
What types of meals did you make for yourself and how did you make it palatable? I ate a radish for 2 meals because I had a very busy weekend and didn’t have time to cook. Also, I noticed that I used significantly more salt than normal.
What did you have to do without and did you have a splurge item? My splurge item was coffee (nearly $2.00) I missed fruit and snacks. My husband normally does our cooking and he was out of town so I had to cook for my son (11) and then had to cook something for myself.
If you have children at home, what was your conversation like? My son hates that people go hungry. I’ve worked feeding people for years and he doesn’t understand how hunger can happen in Southwest Florida. He also expects me to fix it singlehandedly. My participation in the Challenge made him uncomfortable as he could watch how little I ate.
Any additional thoughts, observations, plans for social action that you would like to share? I work for Meals of Hope. Our mission is “Communities coming together to end hunger.” We do 3 things: pack meals which are donated to the local food bank; in partnership with the Pan Florida Challenge, provide 2,500 children with a weekend backpack full of food each week; and run 3 food pantries in Collier County.
Meals of Hope does not have enough food to meet the need. We welcome food drives or donations. We also host our largest food packing event on 12/24 at Harborside Event Center. We will pack 600,000 meals in 2 hours. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on our organization, please check our website: www.mealsofhope.org and to register for the event, please visit www.holidayswithouthunger.org.
Organizations that help alleviate hunger in Collier County
Amigos Center Immokalee (239) 657-3822
Blessings in a Backpack (239) 410-9592
Catholic Charities of Collier County (239) 657-6242
Collier Harvest (239) 455-3663
Everglades Community Church (239) 695-2695
First United Methodist Church of Immokalee (239) 657-2250
Grace Place Friday Food Pantry (239) 234-2400
Greater Naples YMCA (Meals of Hope Mobile Food Pantry) (239) 597-3148
Guadelupe Center in Immokalee (239) 657-7711
Harry Chapin Food Bank (239) 334-7007
Immokalee Multicultural Multipurpose Community Action Agency (239) 657-2213
Jewish Community and Family Services (239) 325-4444
Meals of Hope (239) 537-7775
New Hope Ministries (239) 348-0122
Renew First Assemblies Ministries (239) 348-0122
Renew Food Pantry (239) 774-1802
St. Matthews House (239) 774-0500
St. Vincent De Paul Society of Naples Food Pantry (239) 775-1667
The Salvation Army of Collier County Naples: (239) 210-4009, Immokalee (239) 657-2199
Tree of Life Church (239) 530-2200