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City Angel
C
hild hunger is on the
rise in the United States
and this epidemic
is present in North
C a r o l i n a . " T h i r t e e n
million children in
the United States are suffering from
hunger," says David Griffin, Director of
Second Harvest Food Bank (a division
under Cumberland Community Action
Program). Griffin oversees all functions
of the non-profit agency's seven-county
region (Bladen, Cumberland, Duplin,
Harnett, Hoke, Robeson and Sampson
counties). Over 150,000 individuals in the
agency's region are at risk of hunger.
Second Harvest Food Bank was
established in 1982 and is a certified
member of Feeding America. It is one of
Hunger is a growing challenge
By J. Alison Paul
the six regional food banks that serve all
100 counties in North Carolina. Griffin
said their service areas are some of the
poorest in the state with Robeson County
listed as the #1 poverty level county in
NC, with 41.4% of that county's children
living at risk of hunger.
The mission of Second Harvest Food
Bank is to feed the hungry by soliciting
and judiciously distributing food and
grocery products through a network
of member non-profit agencies (such
as churches, soup kitchens, homeless
shelters), and educate the public about the
nature of and solutions to the problems
of domestic hunger. Currently, the
agency supports over 200 local charitable
agencies. These member agencies are
the vehicle for Food Bank to reach out to
EVEN IN AMERICA
Above | Second Harvest staffers,
(L-R) Gideon Adams, Cortez Phillips
and David Griffin
