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John Daley ReportingA major push is on to fight hunger in Utah. The issue touches many more people that most of us realize.
Each of 218 plates represents 1000 people in Utah living at or below the poverty level. That means there are more than 200,000 Utahns who are at risk for going hungry. The Utah Food Bank held a press conference this morning to announce plans for a major food drive this summer.
Jim Pugh, Exec. Director, Utah Food Bank: "Hunger ranges from your homeless population to often times your next door neighbor who is living pay check to pay check and is one incidence away from a situation where they're deciding between paying their rent or putting more food on the table. We want to be there for those types of people, get them through that emergency situation that they have and help them be productive members of the community."
Gina Cornia, Exec. Director, Utahns Against Hunger: "The truth is that there are tens of thousands of Utah families and Utah individuals who have a really hard time meeting their nutritional needs because of a lack of resources."
Last year the Utah Food Bank gathered about 250,000 pounds of food; this year they're aiming for 100,000 pounds more than that, in part by relying in businesses. The Summer Business Food Drive is encouraging companies to get their employees involved by contributing canned fruits, vegetables, meats, stews, pasta, beans and baby food.
The statistics are rather telling on this issue. 9.8% of Utahns are living in poverty. A family of four living in poverty makes a little more than $19,000 a year to cover health care expense, shelter, food and other household expenses.
