Contact us
Log in
Children are going hungry
Hard-working mum Hayley absolutely adores her beautiful kids, Grace, Peter and Jake.
Struggling to afford the basics for her family was heartbreaking for Hayley.
She’s always worked incredibly hard to provide for them, but when she lost her job due to COVID-19, it suddenly became much harder to feed them every day.
“My greatest fear is that my kids will go hungry. Things are so expensive… it’s hard to get on top of stuff – and with no income coming in, it’s even tougher.”
The tragic reality is that Hayley is just one of many parents overwhelmed with worry right now about how to feed their children.
Even before COVID-19, three children in every classroom across NSW and ACT were going to school without breakfast. Today, the situation is much worse.
Foodbank nationally has seen a 78% surge in demand for food relief. Hunger is no longer a hidden crisis, and children are going hungry at alarming rates.
Foodbank’s School Breakfast 4 Health program now serves over 137,000 meals each week to kids who would otherwise go without. But with more children going hungry than ever before, we urgently need your help to meet the skyrocketing demand.
Everyday Aussie kids are arriving at school with an empty lunchbox, some don’t even know if there will be dinner on the table at night.
Hayley shared, “It’s so scary to think what would happen to my children if Foodbank wasn’t around… I don’t know how we’d cope.”
When a child goes to school hungry, there’s much more at stake than just empty bellies, their entire education can be put at risk.
Just imagine how hard it is for a young child to concentrate on the maths or science problems in front of them, when all they can feel is the pain deep of their rumbling tummies.
In fact, teachers estimate that the average student loses more than two hours of learning time when they arrive at school without breakfast. That lost time quickly adds up over weeks and months. You can only imagine the devastating impact on these students as they fall further and further behind their peers.
It’s heartbreaking, but sadly, the obstacles facing hungry kids don’t stop there.
Teachers also say that students who arrive without having eaten a nutritious meal are more likely to express their emotion in disruptive behaviours. Without food in their stomachs, these kids can become restless, irritable, angry and easily upset. On top of that, many hungry kids feel too ashamed to attend their School Breakfast 4 Health program.
We’re working with local schools to help ensure that every hungry child gets the food they need, but that means we need even more food than ever before. With so many kids in need across NSW and ACT right now, we urgently need your help to feed every single hungry child like Grace, Peter and Jake.
Your support will mean so much to parents like Hayley. Many are struggling to cope with the stress of losing their jobs, and some are being forced to decide whether or not to feed their kids when the money has run out.
You’ll be helping thousands of kids like Grace, Peter and Jake:
- Improve their nutrition and eating habits
- Improve their mental and physical health
- Reduce the number of children who stay home from school
- Help them engage with a clear mind and full stomach in class
- Help them develop social and leadership skills.