Who's Hungry?

According to Feeding America, 9.4% of Tolland county residents are

struggling with hunger insecurity in 2023. In the U.S., in 2022, 72% of households

served by food banks had an annual income of only $9,175. And research has

established that 46% of students from low income homes have their school

performance negatively impacted because of hunger.

In Vernon, 100% of the families receiving food assistance from the Cornerstone Food

Cupboard are living below the poverty level. 14.7% of Vernon residents are food

insecure.

And the numbers of families seeking food assistance from the Cupboard have grown

dramatically as our economy has become more and more challenging for most people

One year ago, we averaged 120-130 families coming to the Cupboard for food

assistance each week. Currently we are averaging 180-190 seeking help each week,

and we have even had several weeks with over 200 families seeking food assistance.

And those families contain about 900 family members.

One of my favorite quotations about hunger is from Mother Teresa. “If you can’t feed a

hundred, then feed just one.” Donation support of any size helps us to be able to

provide food assistance for hundreds of our neighbors each week.

Lee Hay

Food Cupboard Director