“I just don’t think the words ‘children’ and ‘hunger’ belong in the same sentence,” said Darilyn Bedel, Board Chair of Rush County Community Assistance Food Pantry (RCCA). Sadly, families with children make up the biggest set of those that need RCCA’s help.

Her comment came at a recent discussion after a showing of the documentary, The Working Hungry at the Princess Theater. The film was written and produced by Rush County’s own Shannon Cagle Dawson and focuses on stories of people in Indiana. RCCF sponsored the evening to start a dialogue, break down stereotypes, and create empathy.

More than 700,000 Hoosiers are what is termed “food insecure.” The definition being – “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” These people aren’t the stereotypes that many believe. They are not homeless, and they live in families that are working. Often with two or three jobs they are still unable to meet their basic needs.

We are blessed to have the dedicated volunteers who run RCCA and the other food pantries in our county. But as stated in the film, “More food pantries alone won’t solve the problem. It will take systemic responses like higher wages.” In Indiana, a sustainable wage is $18/hour with access to health insurance. But nearly 1 million jobs in our state, one third of all jobs, pay less than $18/hour.

The high price of food isn’t helping but neither is the skyrocketing cost of housing. Shelter is usually the highest priority for low-income families. Lack of proper nutrition leads to many poor health outcomes, especially for children aged five and younger. A lack of food makes concentration very difficult, affecting school and work performance.

Other factors can make getting food assistance difficult. Transportation, health issues, completing and having necessary paperwork, lack of knowledge of how to access resources, childcare, and pride are all barriers. Certain groups are affected disproportionately. Communities of color, older adults, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people in rural areas are included in these numbers. In smaller communities like Rush County, the stigma can feel even greater.

While local food pantries work hard to help, SNAP (formerly known as the food stamp program) and other government assistance programs make up 85% of available support. Changes made in federal nutrition programs become a very big deal.

Progress is happening, but the number of people needing support is not going down. As one provider interviewed told the film’s crew, “It’s like the pandemic, but nobody’s paying attention anymore.” All of these statistics can feel overwhelming. The individual stories get to the heart of the matter. We hope you’ll watch the video.

What can you do to help?

• Let your elected officials know that you care about hunger and food assistance programs.
• Help share the word about food pantries in our community. Not only do they offer food, but they have knowledge of additional resources and can direct folks to them.
• Volunteer at a food pantry. They can always use an extra set of hands sorting and distributing food.
• Hear the stories of three Hoosiers facing food insecurity by watching the video. Even better arrange a showing of The Working Hungry for your church, club, or other group. It’s available to play for free and you can also download a discussion guide. Discussion builds empathy and creates ideas.

Thanks to everyone who attended the screening and discussion. Something we can all agree on is that no one should ever go hungry.

TheWorkingHungry Final NoCaptions.mp4 from david duncan on Vimeo.