Special features from Channel 7
Click on the quick links below to see the story:
- Colorado schools will serve more the 1.5 million breakfasts to kids in need this month. (2/7/11)
- The face of hunger is changing in Colorado. (2/8/11)
- Children are especially vulnerable to the health effects of hunger. (2/9/11)
- Many seniors in Colorado are silently suffering from hunger. (2/10/11)
- Smart solutions are needed to bring help to families. (2/11/11)
Colorado schools will serve more than 1.5 million breakfasts to kids in need this month
Schools are on the front lines of innovative efforts to help ensure that all children start the day ready to learn. Colorado schools do more than educate our kids; they provide additional resources to support the whole child.
This is particularly true when it comes school breakfast and lunch programs. Today, an increasing number of Colorado schools are pioneering Breakfast in the Classroom programs, which bring food directly to students in school classrooms. This innovative effort helps to ensure that no child starts the day hungry and reduce the stigma associated with having to show up for food programs in the cafeteria.
Hunger Free Colorado is partnering with teachers and school administrators around the state to encourage school breakfast and lunch programs for children in need and provide Breakfast in the Classroom. HFC also is working with legislators to protect the State’s support for important school breakfast program. We all benefit when children are able to learn and grow up healthy.
In this story, KMGH Channel 7 reporter Ana Cabrera travels to Commerce City to learn more about Breakfast in the Classroom and talk with a physician about the tragic impacts hunger can have on child development and learning.
The face of hunger is changing in Colorado
Many associate the term “hunger” with the homeless, or even people in third-world countries. It is difficult to imagine hunger existing right here in Colorado, much less in our own neighborhoods.
Yet Colorado food banks report a record number of families needing emergency assistance, poverty is on the rise and working families are being forced to seek government aid—many for the first time. Even in suburban Douglas County, the number of families seeking food assistance through the federally funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program has increased by 19 percent since 2009.
Hunger Free Colorado is working with policymakers to ensure that Colorado’s leaders are aware of the changing face of hunger and the enormous changes taking place in Colorado’s new economic reality. Sign up for our action alerts to learn about opportunities to tell your legislator about this important issue.
In this story, KMGH Channel 7 reporter Ana Cabrera will speak with a Douglas County mother receiving food assistance.
Children are especially vulnerable to the health effects of hunger
In metro Denver, the Sprout Clinic works to identify nutritional problems in children age 0-3 and connect parents with resources to keep their kids healthy. In partnership with Rocky Mountain Youth Clinics (RMYC), HFC recently opened the first Sprout Clinic in the Denver suburb of Thornton. Children and their families work with a triad team of a pediatrician, registered dietitian and social worker to ensure they have the support and resources necessary to grow and thrive during this instrumental period of their development. The Sprout Clinic also provides access to supplemental nutrient-rich food, free of charge, for each family with the Food Pharmacy.
By making a financial contribution to Hunger Free Colorado, you can help sustain innovative programs like the Sprout Clinic and move Colorado one step closer to ending hunger.
In this story, KMGH Channel 7 reporter Ana Cabrera will talk with pediatrician Joe Craig, MD about the positive impact the Sprout clinic is having on metro Denver families.
Many seniors in Colorado are silently suffering from hunger
After a lifetime of work, many Colorado seniors are forced to choose between paying for food and other basic needs such as medicine. Seniors face unique challenges and are at a high risk of becoming hungry. Seniors can also face serious health consequences from insufficient nutrition.
Hunger Free Colorado is working with other nonprofit organizations to expand access to the programs that will help seniors get the nutrition and health care benefits they need.
In this story, KMGH Channel 7 reporter Ana Cabrera visits Jewish Family Services in Denver, which serves meals to more than 100 seniors each day. Why are they here and how do they cope with hunger later in life?
Smart solutions are needed to bring help to families
The benefits system can be confusing and overwhelming to families needing assistance, resulting in lost revenue for Colorado businesses. Did you know you have to fill out a 26-page application to receive food stamps, but only a two-page application to register your firearm? What do you do when you need to sign up for food stamps? Where do you go and how do you complete the 26-page application? How can you take care of your family, given the problems and delays that have been associated with Colorado’s Benefits Management System?
When Coloradans can’t get the help they need to buy groceries, Colorado businesses also suffer from lost revenue. Denver alone lost $177 million in grocery sales between 2003 and 2008 because only 43% of those eligible for benefits actually receive them.
Sign up for Hunger Free Colorado’s email updates to be alerted about opportunities to advocate for fixing the broken benefits system.
In this story, Hunger Free Colorado Director Kathy Underhill walks KMGH Channel 7 reporter Ana Cabrera through the long and tedious application for benefits, just as she does for families in need.
