A state survey of youths has spotlighted a crisis in Whitehall Township.

Students in four grades, 14.2 percent of them, in 2013, answered they "worry the food at home is going to run out before the family has money to buy more." The state rate is just 9.5.

The survey continued: 8.5 percent of 12th-graders have skipped a meal because their family could not afford the food. The state rate is 5.8.

This hunger crisis in Whitehall Township and Coplay has brought people together to address the issue as well as come up with ways to continue to reduce the numbers.

Municipal leaders, civic organizations, churches and school personnel have met over the past few months to right this wrong, after hearing statistics one leader has called "disgusting."

I would say the situation is more sad and senseless.

But as often occurs with shocking news, it has also created these teams of people who have stepped up and are speaking out about it.

Press intern Robin Eberhardt has been writing about the hunger issue and initiative throughout the summer. Her series, "Fighting Hunger," appears biweekly in the Whitehall-Coplay Press. (If you are a subscriber to another Press newspaper, you can find the articles at thewhitehallcoplaypress.com.)

Robin has written about church and community involvement. In this week's edition, she begins to look at school programs. Here's what we know from her research:

Many of the hungry are working people. They just do not have enough money to adequately feed themselves or their families.

In addition to this working class, there is a "forgotten group" of senior citizens who have difficulty cooking and lack access to food.

Many churches are collecting food and taking care of their own members rather than addressing a problem in the whole community.

Changing this hunger crisis requires a change in attitude. Hunger lives in many places. We need to open ourselves up to the idea the person sitting next to us could be hungry and unsure if the food in his home will last until his next paycheck.

We can't live in sheltered homes, thinking our neighborhood, our town, our school district is too affluent, or too comfortable, to have hungry people.

When I was in high school, one of the most popular girls lived in a huge house we all wished was ours. About 10 years after graduation I learned that, each school day, she would save half her lunch to eat as her dinner because there wasn't enough food for her family.

The issue also requires we get involved or up our game. It is no longer enough to pull a few canned goods from our cabinets on the day the mail carriers hold their food drive.

As members of churches or civic organizations, we need to collect more food. We need to share it within our groups as well as with the community, via area food pantries.

The Whitehall-Coplay Area Communities That Care (CTC) Hunger Initiative, which is addressing this issue, is working on an idea to have churches divide and conquer, whereby each would collect a different item to eventually take to the food bank. The Easton Hunger Coalition already does this, with great success.

Ideas for a community garden in Whitehall are also under way. The area would be maintained by volunteers who would make sure the items grown go to a food bank.

At Lafarge North America, in Cementon, a community garden is in the works. Employees will be paid for tending to the plot while they add some community service time into their workdays. That food will be donated as well.

Programs will soon be implemented in the Whitehall-Coplay School District. Free breakfasts for students, nutrition classes for families and more are all part of the CTC plans. If you have children in the Whitehall-Coplay School District, this is a perfect opportunity to volunteer.

We can't rely on just the civic groups, or just the churches, or just the schools to do the work to eliminate this issue. It will take a collaborative effort to win the battle. Consider joining the fight.

Kelly Lutterschmidt

Editor

Catasauqua Press

Northampton Press

Whitehall-Coplay Press