skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Childhood Hunger Persists in KY

play audio
Play

Wednesday, September 21, 2016   

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hunger in Kentucky remains well above the national average, according to a new report.

In the past two years, according to the Food Research and Action Center, nearly one in four Kentucky households with children has been unable to afford enough food.

Dare to Care Food Bank partners with more than 300 food pantries, emergency kitchens and shelters in the greater Louisville area. Its director of strategic initiatives, Stan Siegwald, said demand spiked when the recession hit in 2008 and has not gone down.

"If a family has children, they have greater expense pressure and one of those is food," he said. "That's why we have special programs designed to try to reach children."

Siegwald said the Kids Cafe program distributes meals in after-school settings, and Backpack Buddy provides food for the weekend to students facing hardships. Kentucky's food hardship rate for households with children was 23.7 percent, more than 4 percent above the national average of 19.2 percent. It was even higher in the Louisville metro area, at 24.4 percent.

Siegwald called it "disappointing" that the Louisville food hardship rate was, according to the report, 12th highest among the 100 largest urban areas. He said reasons run the gamut from parents in low-wage jobs to those facing health or substance-abuse problems. Siegwald said they have to keep looking for innovative ways to deliver food to those in need.

"I think having so many different variables in place make it a challenge to address many of the root causes," he said. "We work hard to make sure that help is accessible and available, and especially so for kids."

Dare to Care serves eight Kentucky and five Indiana counties, including the Louisville area, and provided 17 million meals in the past year.

Anti-hunger advocates across the nation are urging Congress to protect and expand federal nutrition programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC, a nutrition program for women, infants and children.

The report is online at frac.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021