Every two years, sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders statewide take the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS). This was completed in the fall of 2015, and the PAYS data report came out in 2016.

PAYS is the only survey offered in Pennsylvania that collects the level of detailed risk and protective factor data used to identify individual community needs. Reports are generated at the state, county and school district level. PAYS is supported by Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol programs, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.*

PAYS is a holistic approach to learning about students’ attitudes and behaviors that represent the entirety of a student’s environment - the community, school, family and peers/self. Additionally, by tracking data over multiple PAYS administrations, prevention planners can assess the impact of programs and services over time. Results of the survey can be and have been used to provide evidence of the need for prevention services as well as the areas where students would benefit from those services to support their work toward achieving academic and personal goals.*

*These two paragraphs are taken in part from the Pennsylvania Youth Survey 2015 frequently asked questions. As mentioned above, the survey asks many questions. In the Whitehall-Coplay School District report, I am reporting only on the hunger section. I am saddened to report that our food numbers have increased slightly from 2013. Here is the school district, county and state results from 2015 and 2013:

1. Percentage of kids who worry about running out of food before the family gets more money to buy more food.

School district:

2013 - 14 percent

2015 - 16.3 percent, an increase of 2.3 percent

Lehigh County:

2013 - 10 percent

2015 - 20.4 percent, an increase of 10.4 percent

Statewide:

2013 - 9.5 percent

2015 - 13.7 percent, an increase of 4.2 percent

I have reported since 2013 that 16.1 percent of sixth-graders worry where their next meal was coming from.

2. How many times have you skipped a meal because your family didn’t have enough money to buy food?

School district:

2013 - 5.5 percent

2015 - 7 percent, an increase of 1.5 percent

Lehigh County:

2013 - 4.7 percent

2015 - 9 percent, an increase of 4.3 percent

Statewide:

2013 - 4.4 percent

2015 - 6.6 percent, an increase of 2.2 percent

Hunger statistics in the Whitehall-Coplay School District, Lehigh County and Pennsylvania have all risen since 2013. Please note the school district percentages are higher than the state’s.

I am very pleased to remind you the school district started offering a free and reduced breakfast program in September of 2015 in part as a result of the 2013 PAYS data, plus other internal data. This is in addition to the already offered free and reduced lunch program. More than 50 percent of the students qualify for these meals. The need is very real, and it exists here in Whitehall and Coplay. Some of these students rely on the breakfast and lunch programs as their only source of nutritious meals. Thank you to the school board for allowing this breakfast program to help these kids.

I am a member of the Communities That Care (CTC) committee that works with the school district and many other organizations to strengthen our community. PAYS data helps identify where the risk factors are for our students. The 2013 PAYS hunger section really bothered me, and I wanted to do something about it. That is how Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative began. Our initiative is doing many programs to help alleviate hunger in Whitehall and Coplay. There are two programs the initiative supports that I would like to mention: Snack Pack Pals and free community meals.

The Snack Pack Pals program was founded by Leah Saliby, an eighth-grade English teacher at Whitehall-Coplay Middle School. It is intended to help the neediest of children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Over long weekends, food items are sent home with students who have severe hunger needs. If you would like to make a food donation, Leah is most in need of shelf-stable milk boxes, fruit cups, small boxes of cold cereal, applesauce cups, juice boxes/pouches, packs of cheese/peanut butter crackers, graham crackers, granola bars, individual servings of macaroni and cheese and microwaveable bowls of Chef Boyardee.

If you can bring any of these items to the fall festival at the high school 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 15, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative will have a booth set up and will be collecting these items for the Snack Pack Pals program.

Middle school Leo Club students help in packing these items for 50 students. They do a wonderful community service. The items collected will be packed for the winter break.

For more information on the program, contact Leah Saliby at salibyl@whitehallcoplay.org.

The initiative also provides a monthly free community meal. We would encourage more families with school-age children and youth to take advantage of this program. We feed many Whitehall and Coplay residents at these meals.

The locations change monthly but are always the third Tuesday of the month. The October meal will be at First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua, 3005 S. Front St., Whitehall, 4:30-7 p.m. Oct. 18. It is free and guaranteed for the first 100 people who come.

For more information, contact Janice Stavrou at 610-767-7014.