'If they're not fed and they're hungry, they're not going to perform as well'
»Play Video
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- In Springfield Public Schools, 63 percent of students are on free or reduced lunches. Guy Lee Elementary School has one of the highest numbers with 87 percent of students receiving this help.
Oregon has the highest rate of child hunger in the nation, according to state and federal statistics. Around 30 percent of children in Oregon are food insecure. In Lane County, 53 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
Guy Lee Elementary School has made it their mission to fight hunger and provide their students and families support. Over the past few years, the school has partnered with several organizations including Food For Lane County with food assistance programs.
They provide free or reduced breakfast for students, a snack pack program at the end of the week so kids can go home with food for the weekend, and a mobile food pantry from Food For Lane County comes to the school once per month.
"If they're not fed and they're hungry, they're not going to perform as well," said principal Nicki Gorham. "They're not going to learn as much as they would if they came to school ready."
Julie Meehan is the Family Center Coordinator at Guy Lee Elementary School. She is the liason between students, families, the school and organizations that partner with the school for food assistance. She says over the past five years, she has seen an increase of working class families needing help.
"They do a really good job trying to provide for their family, but by the end of the month they need that little extra help," said Meehan.
"It's the people that are really, really working hard to provide and it's tough. It's hard right now," she said.
The school has taken on hunger as a major issue - and they say it's a partnership through volunteers, teachers, district support and parents. "There isn't anything more satisfying that to know that a child is being fed and is able to learn and is able to eat," said Gorham.
There are a lot of families and kids that need the help, but almost 90% of one elementary school! It is worth noting that applying for and receiving the free lunches does not require the families to provide any documentation of income or number of individuals in the household - it is self reported on the application. A single parent with one child can have a full time job at about $13.50/hour and qualify - other public benefits such as SNAP or housing subsidies are not considered income.
In addition to breakfast and lunch, getting on the program provides many other financial benefits. From the 4J website:
Â
  There are extra benefits as well; students on this program can also qualify for free LTD bus passes for some high school students, deep fee reductions rates for 4J athletics and activities, Kidsports, the City of Eugene's RecZone and other after-school programs, low-cost high-speed Internet, and much more.
The school district receives federal reimbursement for the meals, and schools even receive additional federal funding based on how many students have applied and qualified for free and reduced mealsâso if you fill out a form and qualify, you are helping both your family and your school!
Â
Note that the district also benefits from signing up as many kids as possible for the program. In schools such as Guy Lee, the extra federal funding pays for up to 2-3 additional teachers.Â
It's hard to imagine why Oregon has the highest rate of child hunger in the nation, when we have such an awesome liberal/democrat GOV here....I thought that the liberals were perfect in every way shape and form. I thought that hunger wouldn't exist in this utopian state...too much government makes the people dependant and lazy, weak and soft...I am not saying that people don't need help, but I am saying they need a different kind of help than another hand out...they need a hand UP!
@PEANUT Very well said, and I have wondered myself what the liberal definition of failure is? This state is run by liberals, and I just saw recently that the Statesman Journal printed an article where the Pers board says it is 16 Billion short and some studies find it closer to 90 Billion short. Where in the world is this State headed????
down the same cliff as the feds...I would imagine.