To the Editor:

I am one of the coordinators for the Ahoskie Food Pantry.  I would like to take a few minutes of your time to tell you about a child I never met.

This little boy is 5 years old. He lives with his grandmother who is bound to a wheel chair. This child was left here by his mother. You see, she didn’t have time to be worried with a child. She looked forward to fun and excitement and a child just didn’t fit in with this plan. Grandmother didn’t have money to feed a child. She didn’t have enough for herself. This little boy has learned to ignore the hunger pains that go along with an empty stomach. When he shut his eyes and dreamed of cake and cookies, he soon fell asleep.

Of the population of Hertford County, 26% live below the poverty level, 26% receive Food Stamps, and 22% receive Medicaid. Of all Hertford County Public School children, 24% live in food insecure homes.

During the 2016 school year we served 7,373 back pack meals. 100% of all money donated to the Back Pack program goes to purchase food for the children.  Without your help, we will have to reduce the number of children we are able to serve. The one area we are receiving little to no donations is the Murfreesboro /Como area. If we have to reduce the number of children we serve it would have to be the Murfreesboro/Como area.

Friends, these are the children in the most need! The only way to overcome this is to feed our children. When the children have food for the weekend, they are able to come back to school on Monday ready to learn. The school system provides breakfast and lunch at no cost for our children. Many children hate to see the weekend come.   They know they will not have food until they come back to school on Monday. Please put yourself in these children’s place for a weekend.  Go a weekend without food and then you will know for sure just how painful this is.

I could go on for hours telling you stories of the children we serve. The main story is this: we have many hungry children, children who feel lost and unloved. Please help us show these children that someone loves them. We know the mechanics of this program. We just need your money! We will give the time and energy to make it happen. We are blessed with many volunteers who give endlessly of their time to help make this happen. Please, help us feed the children.

If you feel so led, you may make a donation to the Ahoskie Food Pantry. The address is PO Box 159, Ahoskie, NC  27910. We ask that you seriously think of this program and help a local child.

You may reach the Coordinators of the Ahoskie Food Pantry by calling 252-395-2175 for Carolyn or 252-395-0937 for Bill.  You may also reach Brenda at the Ahoskie Presbyterian Church at 252-332-2145.

Carolyn Arrington

Ahoskie