‘It can happen to anyone’ : Tri-State Food Bank discusses food insecurity during Hunger Action Month

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - September is Hunger Action Month, but at the Tri-State Food Bank, organizers and volunteers take action year round to fight food insecurity.

The people they help include 33 counties and over 12,000 square miles across Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

Executive Director of the Tri-State Food Bank, Glenn Roberts says that roughly one in six adults in the Tri-State are food insecure.

“It could be your next door neighbor, it can happen to anyone” said Roberts.

He said food insecurity can look like a lot of things, “maybe they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from, they’re having trouble stretching their food budget or they have little access to food, like they don’t have a grocery store nearby.”

In some cases this can cause people to make hard choices.

“When you’re saying ‘do I feed my family or do I pay my rent?’ ‘do I feed my family or my utilities?’ and one of the worst choices people make is to forego their medications because that is just a double whammy because that’ll effect their health as well,” said Roberts

That’s why the Tri-State Food Bank offers countless programs for people of all ages.

For students who receive free or reduced lunch, the Food Bank offers a weekend backpack program where students are given a bag of food that will last them through the weekend.

They also offer a senior citizen grocery program that gives low income senior citizens a box of food a month.

Officials say those are just a few things the food bank offers to help.

The vision is to give everyone in the Tri-State access to adequate and nutritious food and that no matter your age or situation, the Tri-State Food Bank has your back.

“Every three seconds someone in the tri-state is getting fed a meal because of our work that’s about as long as it takes to take a breath,” said Roberts, “So with every breath you take someone in the tri-state is getting a meal because of the work that all of these team members are doing.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing food insecurity you can visit the Tri-State Food Bank website and click the ‘Find Help’ tab.

There, you can also find out how you can donate or volunteer at the Food Bank.

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