@Carmie wrote:
@Burnsite wrote:
Oh, yuck to these posts about the parents. Food assistance for children is crucial. 1 in 5 children in the US doesn't have enough food. 1 in 5.
I don't know how some of you people sleep at night.
Here in Pennsylvania, we have Bill Boards that say 1 in 5'children go to bed hungry every night.
Since I retired a few months ago I volunteer 3 hrs a day at an elementary school to help during school lunches. The school I am at has 85% of the children receiving free lunch. In addition, these children take a back pack full of food home every Friday to last them through the weekend. These children also receive free breakfast 5 days a week at school.
Their parents receive SNAP benefits while the children are fed at school at no extra cost. Every day I see bananas, apples, pre made salads in a box, milk and juice boxes and whole lunch trays full of food thrown away untouched. Some, but not all of these children bring a dollar or two to purchase snack food that they will eat instead of the good lunch provided.
I also see these children pack a lunch from home that doesn't include a drink. A single drink is not provided under the free lunch program, so the kids get the whole free lunch, drink the milk or juice and throw the rest of the items out. The amount,of food wasted is amazing! I have tried to coax the children to eat the food and explained that food s expensive and should not be wasted. They insist that the food is free and they don't care if they waste it.
This school also has a summer food program where anyone under age 18 can just walk in for free lunch all summer long no questions asked.
Now, to be perfectly honest, a couple of the children are hungry... Mostly because their parents do not provide meals for them at home. They say there is no food at home to eat. There parents are using SNAP money for cigarettes and beer according to the kids.
I have come to believe that these 1 in 5 are hungry because their parents are deadbeat slobs who refuse to feed their kids. IT's not about the money. These parents need to be educated and held accountable to provide for their children.
One afternoon kindergartner who arrives at 1:30 complains that he hasn't eaten all day. The teachers pool their money to buy him lunch as kindergarteners are not served lunch because they are only there 3 hrs. The school will not report his mother for neglect. He is quite dirty too as are his older two brothers.
it is difficult for me to see this. Hungry kids in the US are hungry because their parents are lazy and neglect them. There are many programs out there to feed children.
The elderly are another matter. Many, many older Americans go to bed hungry, I hope these single adults who will have benefits cut are not seniors.
I believe your experience to be most accurate, and very widespread. I know that so much of the food that these 'hungry' children are given is dumped. Truly hungry children would not do this.
There are a lot of kids who do eat the school food (and I know it isn't the greatest) and parents who appreciate receiving the benefits, but I still contend that if you require people to do for themselves (bad words inserted here....responsibility, expectations!), when they realize that the gravy train is over, will indeed step up and do more.
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