In recent weeks the media has reported that more than 16 million children face a summer of hunger.

During the school year, children in poverty rely on free or discount cafeteria meals subsidized by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. But during the summer, only one in five of the total number of kids poor enough to qualify will be reached by the patchwork of summer food programs financed by USDA.

Caught in the gap, children are lining up with their families at crowded food pantries like the Wilkinson Center’s.

When I think about this reality, I remember a story from our founder, Rev. Clayton Lewis. In 1982, while leaving church one day, he saw neighborhood children picking food out of the church’s dumpster. At that moment, the vision for what later became the Wilkinson Center was born.

Hunger is not the problem, it’s a symptom of the problem.  The problem is poverty. Since 1982, we have become much more skilled and effective at equipping people to break the cycle of poverty that leads to this unbearable suffering.

The staggering numbers remind me that we have much more work to do.

Nearly everyone has fewer resources today, but we must do what’s right and act. By sharing your blessings, you will feel better about yourself, no doubt. But because of you, families who were at the end of their rope just may believe that God is a little more real and believable.

-----   Brian Burton, Executive Director