Childhood Hunger Becomes A Reality

• January 02, 2018
• Brianna Hernandez

(January 2, 2018) Having an empty stomach is the reality for the 1 in 4 kids who don’t know where their next meal will come from. Sofia and Gonzalo Garcia Elementary School Nurse, Laura Escobar, shares how being hungry affects children in the classroom.

“It’s difficult to concentrate,” Escobar said. “You’re asking your brain to work without the fuel it requires. It’s like operating a car on empty.”

In addition to having problems concentrating and maintaining focus, headaches and stomachaches are some of the most recognizable symptoms of a child who hasn’t had enough to eat.

“Teachers and nurses see first-hand what malnourishment can do to young kids in the classroom,” Escobar said. “It’s not just the short-term problems the lack of food causes. You can have someone eating 3 meals a day but who deal with malnutrition because they are not getting the proper nutrition."

*Attachment: See page 4 in the Winter Newsletter to see how the solution is right here in front of us. It is all of us. Your generosity can help get food to those who need it. Your instant impact will bring needed food to our network of community food pantries, soup kitchens and youth and senior feeding programs, the sites where our hungry neighbors know they can find nutrition and hope.