Be Our Guest / John Etling

Child hunger: a problem more challenging than homework or a test

September was Hunger Action Month, a time to raise awareness about food insecurity, advocate for change and take action against hunger.

In Vigo County, the data from Feeding America—the country’s largest domestic emergency foodbank network, of which the Catholic Charities Terre Haute (CCTH) Foodbank is a member—is telling us those actions must be bigger.

According to Feeding America’s latest “Map the Meal Gap” study, an estimated 19.7% of Vigo County residents— approximately 20,930 people, nearly one in five residents—are food insecure. That figure is above the statewide rate of 15.8%. It is the highest food insecurity rate the county has experienced in the past decade, making Vigo County fourth highest in food insecurity among Indiana’s 92 counties.

For children, the picture is even more concerning.

More than one in four children living in Vigo County—26.8% or approximately 5,830 children—are food insecure. That is the second-highest child food insecurity rate in Indiana.

For those children who are in school, hunger does not remain neatly outside the classroom door. Inadequate access to food can affect a student’s ability to concentrate, learn, maintain energy and regulate behavior. A student worried about whether there will be dinner at home—or whether younger siblings will have enough to eat—is carrying a burden into the classroom much bigger than homework or a test.

Food security is not separate from educational success. It is foundational to it.

For years, weekend backpack programs have been one of the most recognizable responses to hunger among school-aged children. A small bag of easy-to-prepare food sent home on Friday is intended to provide a helpful supplement over the weekend.

But we also must acknowledge the limits of that model.

A package of food intended for one child over two days is not a sufficient response to household food insecurity affecting nearly one in five people in our county.

Since an estimated 45% of Vigo County residents experiencing food insecurity live in a household with an income at or above the threshold used to estimate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility, a food-insecure student is likely returning home to siblings, parents or grandparents who are also struggling to access enough food. The need reaches far beyond one child and one weekend.

At the Catholic Charities Terre Haute Foodbank, feeding people is what we do. For more than 40 years, we have worked to understand hunger, source food efficiently and reach neighbors where they are.

That experience informs our position: the school food pantry model provides a more meaningful response to childhood hunger in Vigo County. A school pantry gives students access to groceries that can help feed their entire household.

Through local retail partnerships and the Feeding America network, school pantries can access food at significantly reduced cost, while many products, including fresh produce and bread, are available at little or no cost.

With help from our foodbank as a Feeding America member, pantries at West Vigo and Terre Haute North high schools distributed more than 26,000 pounds of food to students and their families during the 2025-26 school year, even though Terre Haute North was open for only the final three months of the academic year.

This fall, Terre Haute South High School joined

Terre Haute North and West Vigo, giving every Vigo County high school access to a full pantry model. The CCTH Foodbank also supports pantries at Honey Creek and Sarah Scott middle schools.

Our work extends beyond pantry locations. When the CCTH Foodbank has large quantities of fresh fruits, vegetables, bread and other short-shelf-life foods available, we distribute them at no cost throughout Vigo County schools, regardless of whether a school operates a pantry.

Last year, that distribution totaled nearly 81,000 pounds of nutritious food for Vigo County students.

Each school pantry is operated by teachers and school staff who keep food available for students and families in addition to their already extensive responsibilities. At no charge to the schools, the CCTH Foodbank reduces the logistical burden by using our truck fleet to deliver large quantities of food directly to schools and by our staff providing assistance in unloading and moving food into buildings.

As hunger-relief professionals, our responsibility is not simply to continue programs because they are familiar. It is to understand the data, recognize changing needs and build responses capable of making the greatest possible impact.

The infrastructure exists. The food is moving. School pantries are working. Educators are stepping forward.

What is needed now is a level of commitment equal to the problem. Awareness alone is not enough. Neither is a solution designed to address only one child.

The problem is bigger than a backpack. Our response must be, too.
 

(John Etling is agency director of Catholic Charities Terre Haute. For more information on the agency’s foodbank and other programs, go to ccthin.org.) †