Oblivious to the needs of Missouri’s hungry children
State Rep. Cynthia Davis offers a tip to hungry families.
State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, is staking out a strong position on child hunger: She’s for it.
“Hunger can be a positive motivator,” she notes in the latest edition of her newsletter.
More precisely, Ms. Davis is against summer feeding programs for poor kids. They are an excuse “to create an expansion of a government program,” she says.
Ms. Davis chairs the House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families. In that position, she might be expected to have insight into child hunger in our state.
She might know, for instance, that about one in five Missouri children lives with hunger. That ties us with Louisiana for the nation’s seventh-highest rate, according to a report released last month by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America.
Or that the recession has pushed the number of poor Missouri kids who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches by 8.3 percent this year, well above the national average.
Apparently not.
”While I have not seen this as a problem in my district, it is entirely possible that the (summer feeding) program is designed to address problems that exist in other parts of Missouri,” Ms. Davis says in her newsletter.
“The right way to solve this is with more education. If parents … don’t know how to serve nutritious meals, let’s help them learn to do that.”
In that spirit, she offers some helpful hints:
• “Families may economize by choosing not to waste hard earned dollars on potato chips, ice cream or Twinkies.”
• “Laid-off parents could adapt by preparing more home cooked meals rather than going out to eat.”
• “Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.”
About 100,000 more people are unemployed in Missouri today than were jobless in 2007. Food pantries across the state are struggling to meet increased demand. The United Way of St. Louis and more than 100 area companies are participating in a food drive this week.
And the plain, tragic fact is some children have parents who aren’t particularly interested in caring for them. Ward Cleaver and Cliff Huxtable are off the television airways.
But Ms. Davis is skeptical about the need to feed poor children during the summer when schools are closed.
If — if — there really is one, she says, “churches and non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer.”
Or maybe not.
“Most of our 18 (summer feeding program) sites are churches,” explains Rosemary Terranova, who oversees the program for St. Louis County.
“We’re trying to support churches that want to offer some kind of summer recreation program for kids,” she says. “They supply the staff, we supply the food.”
The program “has been a real blessing to us,” says Caroline Crenshaw of Bethesda Temple in Normandy, where 40 children attended day care last week while their parents worked.
The summer feeding program’s cost is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which pays about $1.81 for each breakfast served and $3.18 for each lunch.
Last year, 3.7 million meals were served by the summer feeding program at a total cost of less than $9.5 million. That’s a pretty good use of federal money.
In the same generous spirit as Ms. Davis, we’d like to offer a suggestion.
• Tip: When you chair a state special committee on children and families, you probably ought to learn something about the needs of children and families.
I have a solution far more efficient and humane than starving these children, and I’m sure my conservative friends will love it. My solution prevents children from ever entering into these horrible welfare queen led families that are either unwilling or unable to properly feed and care for them.
It’s called abortion.
I have to go with Rep. Davis on this, and I have gone to bed hungry. I have been homeless with my two young step children and my ex- husband. And during that short period of my life I saw many hungry children. It’s very sad. HOWEVER, the Federal government is not responsible for feeding hungry children. That is a job that needs to be local. For instance, neighbors, communities, churches, even local city governments would be okay if the citizens of that community vote it in, but when you give the federal government that responsibility you also are giving them more power! Not to mention they suck at anything they do. If someone really cares about hungry kids then let them get together with other private citizens in there area (yes this might take away from your r&r time) and divise and implement a plan to feed the children. You might even get to know the parents. Is there anything YOU can do (not big gov.) that would help the parents be able to feed their children in the future. I love children but it is time to take back not only our rights from big government, but also our responsibilities.
Hunger works! People who are hungry worko get food! This rep is right on the money!Teach them to fish! Power to the taxpayer not the payee!
Hunger works! People who are hungry work to get food!Teach them to fish!Power to the taxpayer not the payee!No welfare no more handouts!Welfare is modern slavery!
Phyllis from Texas,
You state: ex-husband and step children? So, you were able to walk away from that situation because those step children were not your responsibility and you were not their mother but, it was only a voluntary position that wasn’t a ballgame for you where you could emotionally walk away from it not to worry where their next meal would come from? Now correct me if I am incorrect.
jew001,
Are you saying hunger works for children? Only a totally removed from reality individual could believe such a thing.
It is pretty easy and next impossible for adults to go hungry but with children added to anyone’s equation it can become a very likely possibility.
It is easy to live by your wits and to work earning enough money for any one adult to take care of him or herself and survive and not go hungry but when children are added to the mix it is an entirely different ballgame. The scary thing here is that so many adults parade around as being people with good sense when they truly do not have good sense and to make matters worst, so many of these people are in positions of leadership and authority like this Cynthia Davis State Rep. lady.
People just need to accept the reality that we will always have poor people in this country that we have the responsibility of tending to. It is no different than biblical times; we will always have them and be responsible for those who need a temporary lift or long term or lifetime care.
Lastly, we can depend on individuals to do the right thing because they have grown more self-centered as time have passed on will continue to because of the changes in society everyone have difficulty looking beyond their own needs and wants so we have no choice but to look to government if the needs of the poor will even come close to being meant.
Its all so lovely thinking otherwise but you same people stating that people and churches are the solution, just look at yourself and your church count how many families or children you have personally assisted outside your own bloodline, if even any in your own blood line outside your immediate family? As far as Churches, most of those are need most of the money that they bring in just to keep their buildings afloat with little money available to even assist their own members who are in need and that is truly a shame.
Actually, I didn’t walk away for nine years (because of the children) Come to find out my ex had a developing coke problem and I knew I couldn’t take the kids with me so I stayed. We ended up living in a ghetto type neighborhood for a while in El Monte, California. Rent was cheap ($100 a week) and drugs, prostitution, and gangs were the norm. Then when both kids were old enough for school (the place was too dangerous to leave kids alone in) I was able to get a job. I didn’t know how to do much. I was a high school drop out and had started drinking when I was nine myself, but I realized that there was more to life and I wanted these sweet kids to have more. So I got a job waiting tables. I got the kids off to school, took public transit to work if I had the fare. Often I just walked the mile and a half to save money. We moved into a slightly better neighborhood and the kids were a little older so I could work more because they could spend a little time alone. Eventually we divorced, but only because the kids were old enough to be okay he never hit them only me.
Anyway, the point is there are a lot of compassionate people who if they have any money left after the government extorts it’s share, will love to help hungry children. It is not a job for government. If they will stay out people will step up.
Just an example of how government can mess up the simplist of things:
My now seventeen year old daughter used to go feed the homeless people of Houston with her youth group every month. That stopped when Houston passed a law saying that if you were going to feed homeless people you could not bring home made food or even food prepared in your church kitchen. You can now only feed the homeless hungry people from establishments that have annual state health inspections. The homeless people I’ve known really weren’t concerned with the state inspections.
I think a few of the posters are misunderstanding the article. They are arguing that the Federal government should not be feeding children that churches and local communities should be responsible for feeding these poor children as if this were some new idea that has not been tried yet. Again, I have to ask, have you missed out on every news report, cable show, and article about how we already work to feed the hungry. The Federal governmnet doesn’t actually run or operate these school caferterias. Food and sometimes money are distributed through state and local governments to keep these programs going. The article clearly states that even local churches are involved in this. Churches already help. Local food pantrys already collect and distribute food…local charities already do the things that posters here are suggesting…these are not new ideas…but they aren’t enough…even with all these people helping, we still have children going to bed hungry. Neighbors are already helping neighbors but it isn’t enough. These programs exist because we still have poor hungry children who can’t take care of themsleves…who can’t get a job (becuase they are children)…who would be an even bigger burden on society through higher crime rates and higher medical bills if we did not feed them.