Spalding County Food Insecurity Facts
Food Insecurity
The lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members; means a limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate food.
In Spalding County, 20.3% of our population, or over 13,000 people are classified as living with food insecurity. In Georgia, the rate is 18.9%.
In Spalding County, 28.6% of children face food insecurity—or 4,640 kids in our county. Of these, 25% are not eligible for federal nutrition assistance.
In Georgia the child food insecurity rate is also 28.1% (fifth highest in the US) with 29% of them not eligible for nutrition programs. Nationwide the rate is 21.6%.
The Griffin-Spalding County School System serves almost 8,000 students each day: 75% (or about 6,000 students per day) receive free or reduced meals.
At four schools (Anne Street, Atkinson, Moore and Cowan Road Middle) all students eat free.
During the 2012-13 school year GSCS Nutrition:
- Served 1,430,259 lunches and 742,167 breakfasts.
- Served 40,547 gallons of milk and 174,300 apples.
- Served 25,958 pounds of chicken (almost 13 tons).
GSCS nutrition budget is $6,000,000 covering all costs across 18 sites and 134 employees. None of this money comes from the school system budget.
But it was not enough—-many kids are hungry on the weekends and summer when school is not in session.
BACKPACK FOOD FOR KIDS SERVED 235 CHILDREN IN FOUR SCHOOLS LAST YEAR. 150 food banks nationwide serve 230,000 kids a year.
PEOPLE, CHURCHES, COMMUNITY GROUPS—-DONATE NOW TO BACKPACK FOOD FOR KIDS!!!
$200 FEEDS A CHILD EACH WEEKEND FOR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR.
Tax deductible donations may be sent payable to Spalding Collaborative, PO Box 701, Griffin, GA 30224. Contact Joseph Walker, Spaldingcollaborative@gmail.com