House, Salvation Army Launch Hunger Drive
(Image Courtesy: State of Indiana)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Division of The Salvation Army have joined together to increase awareness of child hunger. House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-88) and House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-80) joined Salvation Army officials at the Statehouse Thursday to kick off a drive to donate food and backpacks.
“Some school children don’t want to leave school on Fridays because they don’t know where their next meal will come from,” Bosma said. “By joining forces with The Salvation Army, we hope to raise awareness about child hunger while providing backpacks filled with kid-friendly meals for students to take home for the weekend.”
The Food Research and Action Center reports 1 in 5 Indiana children encounter food insecurity issues, which GiaQuinta says is unacceptable.
“Children should be spending their time learning about the world around them and all that it has to offer, not worrying about the next time they can eat. They should not have to wait. Now is when their minds and bodies are starting to develop. Now is when we need to act to make sure they do not have to suffer from hunger.”, GiaQuinta said.
Indiana House members are collecting non-perishable food items and new or gently-used backpacks until March 6 when the lawmakers plan to fill the backpacks with the collected food items to allow the Salvation Army to distribute them to schools across the state. The Indiana House also has launched a social media campaign using #eliminate68 to raise awareness of the number of hours a young student could likely go without food between school meals on Friday and Monday. Hoosiers are asked to drop off donations at the House Chamber on the third floor of the Statehouse through March 5.