Imagine, if you will, waking up one morning with an empty stomach wondering what, if any, food scraps you might be lucky enough to muster up to make it through the long day.

Sadly, that plight continues to play out far too often for far too many in the land of plenty across the United States. In the Mahoning Valley alone, approximately 90,000 people – or 1 in 6 – struggle daily with hunger and food insecurity – not knowing when and where they’ll find their next meal.

That number, according to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, includes 1 in 4 children across Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Those rates are noticeably higher than national averages of 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 5 children routinely experiencing hunger, according to Feeding America, a consortium of food banks across the nation.

To be sure, the data serve as a stark but brutal backdrop to this month’s poignant observance in the nation of Hunger Action Month. The monthlong focus, however, can only be as successful as the number of people who heed its message and act to make a difference.

The observance began in 2008 when the Feeding America network of food banks in the U.S. – of which SHFBMV is a member – decided to launch a prolonged and aggressive campaign of intensive advocacy and unbounded assistance for the estimated 40 million Americans, including 1.75 million Ohioans, who agonize over hunger on a daily basis.

Over the ensuing 16 years, the month-long awareness campaign on hunger has grown significantly. Unfortunately, so, too has the basic human need the campaign strives to fill.

Nowhere is the scope of that need more palpable than in the Mahoning Valley. An unemployment rate twice as high as state and national averages, coupled with underemployment, low and stagnant wages and escalating costs for food, rent, utilities and other basic necessities, have pushed our region’s major hunger-relief organizations into overdrive.

In 2023, the Youngstown-based Second Harvest Food Bank distributed a near-record 10.5 million pounds of food to its clients at its 160 member agencies.

We therefore join Feeding America and Second Harvest in urging residents throughout the Valley to actively support Hunger Action Month by donating, volunteering and advocating.

An extra effort has been placed in recent years on providing access to healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables. That need is particularly important for the population we serve, especially for senior citizens and children, Michael Iberis, executive director of SHFBMV, has pointed out. Last year the local food bank distributed more than 2.4 million pounds of fresh fruits and veggies in the Valley.

HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Hunger Action Month provides a fine time for all of us to strengthen to recommit to making a concrete impact toward lessening the scope of hunger in our neighborhoods.

There are many ways to do so. Caring residents can organize a food drive, make a monetary donation to the SHFBMV (go to mahoningvalleysecondharvest.org to do so) or volunteer their time and effort at the organization’s sprawling warehouse and distribution site on Salt Springs Road in Youngstown.

For those who prefer an advocacy role, Feeding America is urging its supporters to contact their U.S. senators and representatives to urge them to thwart any major cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in this year’s Farm Bill. SNAP provides food assistance to more than 40 million Americans and feeds 1 in every 4 children, Feeding America points out. The Farm Bill faces a Sept. 30 deadline to pass by the end of this federal fiscal year.

But whether it’s advocating, volunteering or donating, the ways in which members of our community can participate this month are myriad. The life-changing good works of Feeding American and Second Harvest make a compelling case for Valley residents from all walks of life to commit to at least one concrete action this September to ease the pangs and plight of hunger among us.

editorial@vindy.com