HUNGER HIKE – Did you know?

General Facts/Statistics

• According to the USDA, the price of food purchased to eat at home increased 12.2% from June 2021 to June 2022. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings/
• According to the Washington Post, average rents in Tippecanoe County have increased 10.8% since 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/rising-rent-prices/
• In July, Food Finders Food Bank experienced a 70% increase in visits to their Fresh Market Community Food Pantry over the same time last year
• In the first half of the year, Lafayette Urban Ministry saw a 36% jump in visits to their food pantry over 2021.  The number of new food pantry clients went up 123%, and they saw a 33% increase in visits to their emergency shelter.
• Food insecure adults are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and high blood pressure. They are also more likely to report mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, and poor general health. Seniors who are food insecure have a decreased capacity to maintain independence with aging.

Child Hunger Facts/Stats

• According to Feeding America, 1 in 8 Hoosiers struggle with hunger.  Among Hoosier children, the number is 1 in 6. Feeding America – IN (feedingamericaaction.org)
• Children who face hunger are more likely to struggle in school and experience developmental setbacks. Kids who struggle to get enough to eat also face higher risks of health conditions like anemia and asthma.
• In addition to decreased intellectual and emotional development and poor academic performance, children living in food insecure households are at higher risk of poor physical and mental health. They are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia, asthma, mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, cognitive impairment, and behavioral disorders. They are also at higher risk of being hospitalized. These health problems and the resulting time demands placed on caregivers impact the ability of caregivers to maintain stable employment.

Senior Hunger Facts/Stats

• 12.7% of seniors in Indiana struggle with food insecurity –  2022-senior-report-state-summaries.pdf (americashealthrankings.org)
• Seniors struggling with hunger often have to make the difficult decision between paying for rent, medication, or transportation and food.
• For seniors, lack of access to healthy foods, or even a stable diet, can lead to life threatening medical conditions, such as disability, deteriorating health/ mental health conditions, serious infections, lengthy hospitalization, and malnutrition. The number one health condition caused by food insecurity among seniors is clinical (severe/major) depression. For more information on senior hunger, read The State of Senior Hunger 

HUNGER HIKE – Did you know?

General Facts/Statistics

• 1 in 8 people in Indiana struggle with hunger
  
• An estimated 26% of individuals who are considered food insecure live in households that earn incomes above 185% of the poverty line, making them likely ineligible for most federal nutrition assistance programs.
• Food insecure adults are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and high blood pressure. They are also more likely to report mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, and poor general health. Seniors who are food insecure have a decreased capacity to maintain independence with aging.

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Child Hunger Facts/Stats

• 1 in 5 children struggle with hunger
• 23,340, or 17.7%, of children in Food Finders’ service area struggle with hunger. In Tippecanoe County, alone, nearly 7,000 children struggle with hunger. More than a quarter of the 23,670 children do not qualify for federal nutrition programs, leaving Food Finders Food Bank’s programs as their only resource.
  
• Children who face hunger are more likely to struggle in school and experience developmental setbacks. Kids who struggle to get enough to eat also face higher risks of health conditions like anemia and asthma.
  
• In addition to decreased intellectual and emotional development and poor academic performance, children living in food insecure households are at higher risk of poor physical and mental health. They are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia, asthma, mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, cognitive impairment, and behavioral disorders. They are also at higher risk of being hospitalized. These health problems and the resulting time demands placed on caregivers impact the ability of caregivers to maintain stable employment.
  
• For more information on general hunger statistics, visit Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap site: click HERE 
  
  

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Senior Hunger Facts/Stats

• Indiana has one of the highest rates of senior hunger, with 11.7% of seniors struggling with hunger–that’s 631,800 seniors in Indiana. Women are disproportionately affected by food insecurity, 6 out of every 10 food insecure seniors are women.
  
• Seniors struggling with hunger often have to make the difficult decision between paying for rent, medication, or transportation and food.
  
• For seniors, lack of access to healthy foods, or even a stable diet, can lead to life threatening medical conditions, such disability, deteriorating health/ mental health conditions, serious infections, lengthy hospitalization, and malnutrition. The number one health condition caused by food insecurity among seniors is clinical (severe/major) depression. For more information on senior hunger, read The State of Senior Hunger, click HERE. 

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HUNGER HIKE – Did you know?

1. Two and a half million Haitians live in extreme poverty. Haiti is the poorest country in the northern hemisphere.
2. Two out of three Haitians live on less than US$2 per day.
3. Ten percent of the richest Haitians possess 70 percent of the country’s total income.
4. Fifty percent of urban Haitians are unemployed.
5. Shocks induced by climate change threaten over 500,000 Haitians every year.
6. Although agriculture is an important sector of Haiti’s economy, the country fails to produce enough food, and imports more than 50 percent for its population’s needs. It imports 80 percent of its main staple: rice.
7. Ninety percent of farmers depend on rain for their harvest as only ten percent of the crops are irrigated.
8. One-hundred thousand children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition, while one in three children is stunted, or irreversibly short for their age.
9. Less than 50 percent of households have access to safe water and only 25 percent benefit from adequate sanitation.
10. One-third of Haitian women and children are anemic.

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Hunger Hike is an annual Fall community fundraising weekend which includes the traditional 3K Walk on Sunday as well as a 5K run on Saturday. This year Hunger Hike is Saturday, September 19 & Sunday, September 20, 2015.

All Hunger Hike proceeds directly support the Lafayette Urban Ministry food assistance programs including the St. John’s/LUM Food Pantry, Food Finders Food Bank Inc., and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Haiti Ministry including the Haiti Water Purification Project.

Hunger Hike 2015 gives companies, organizations, families & individuals many ways to be a part of a community event with a tremendous positive impact on “Fighting Hunger.”

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Hunger Hike
hungerhike@lumserve.org
www.hungerhike.org
765.423.2691

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This list was prepared and originally posted on January 12, 2015 by The World Food Programme (WFP). Please share these facts to raise awareness.

HUNGER HIKE Special Event

Hunger Hike 2015 – Haiti Pastor visits Hunger Hike team

West Lafayette, IN – Hunger Hike 2015 supports the fight against hunger locally through LUM, regionally through Food Finders, and globally through the Haiti Ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas.

On Monday, August 24th, the pastor of the parish in Baudin, Haiti is making a rare visit to the Lafayette area and will be meeting with the Hunger Hike team to update us on their current situation and issues as well as the impact Hunger Hike has on the people of Haiti. Father Charles, the pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church in the Diocese of Jacmel, Haiti, will be available for question/answer and individual interviews. Fr. Charles will be joined by the St. Tom’s Haiti Committee members who will share their plans for upcoming visits to Haiti. Representatives from the three sponsoring organizations (Lafayette Urban Ministry, Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. & St. Thomas Aquinas Center) will also be in attendance.

Details are as follows:

• Date: Monday, August 24
• Time: 10:30 a.m.
• Place: Newman Hall, St. Thomas Aquinas Center, 535 W State Street, West Lafayette
• FREE & Open to the Public

Hunger Hike is an annual Fall community fundraising weekend which includes the

traditional 3K Walk on Sunday as well as a 5K run on Saturday. This year Hunger Hike is Saturday, September 19 & Sunday, September 20, 2015.

All Hunger Hike proceeds directly support the Lafayette Urban Ministry food assistance programs including the St. John’s/LUM Food Pantry, Food Finders Food Bank Inc., and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Haitian Ministry including the Haiti Water Purification Project.

Hunger Hike 2015 gives companies, organizations, families & individuals many ways to be a part of a community event with a tremendous positive impact on “Fighting Hunger.”

More Information: 10 Facts about Hunger in Haiti.

Contacts:
Fr. Patrick Baikauskas, OP
Pastor, Director of Campus Ministry
St. Thomas Aquinas Center
765.743.4652
fatherpatrick@boilercatholics.org

Joe Micon
Executive Director
Lafayette Urban Ministry
765.423.2691
jmicon@lumserve.org

Katy Bunder
Executive Director
Food Finders Food Bank, Inc.
765.471.0062
kbunder@food-finders.org

Hunger Hike
hungerhike@lumserve.org
www.hungerhike.org
765.423.2691

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