June 3rd 2008
East Bay Real Estate Community Food Drive!
Jim Walberg reminds us that hunger doesn’t take a Summer vacation!
The Summer months are the most critical time for 
food needs in the Bay Area. Click on Summer Food Drive TODAY, and go shopping for those less fortunate than you. With kids about to get out of school for the Summer, there will be thousands of them who will not have a meal because of not being in school. The Food Bank is the one at the front lines of providing these meals to our needy kids.
According to the Nation wide report on hunger 
and food insecurity from The Center on Hunger and Poverty entitled, “Hunger and Food Insecurity in the Fifty States: 1998-2000.” California has grown to be the 5th largest economy in the world and yet, in spite of our amazing agricultural abundance, over a million people are hungry and 5 million live in fear of hunger. In fact, California ranks as the 15th worst state for food insecurity with hunger by the US Department of Agriculture. California is actually above the national average in percentage of households living under these conditions.
About half of food stamp eligible people in California DO NOT receive food stamps. In fact, in the last five years the number of food stamp participants dropped 40% from over 3 million to less than 2 million. Three million children in California are eligible to receive free or reduced priced school meals, and though the National School Lunch Program feeds many of them, 70% of these children do not receive school breakfast. About 2 million children receive free or reduced price school lunches but during the Summer, less than half received lunch.
FACT: In Contra Costa and Solano counties more and more retired or disabled people on fixed incomes are being forced to choose between food, rent, medical care, or prescription drugs.
FACT: 33 percent of the people receiving emergency food in Contra Costa and Solano
counties are children and 21.4 percent are over 50 years old.
FACT: While the Federal Poverty Level is $20,650 for a family of four, a startling 65.9 percent have incomes under $15,000, while 73.1 percent of the clients of emergency food programs have an income less than 130% of poverty.
FACT: 78.5 percent of families who use emergency food programs in Contra Costa and Solano counties report that the food they bought just didn’t last and 41 percent of adults reported they did not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money to buy food.
FACT: 26.4 percent of residents using emergency food services in Contra Costa and Solano counties are homeless, or in shelters or transitional housing.
Today is the day to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate in the Bay Area. Again, all you have to do is click on Summer Food Drive. No excuses, just do it. Thanks for your kind assistance during this time of great need. Until next time…
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