Why Your Help is Needed

The sobering truth is that more than 12 million children in the United States are at risk of hunger. That’s 17.2% of all children–one in six—whose family lacks the resources to provide the nutritious food he needs to thrive. And that number is likely to grow:

• 500,000 more children live in poverty this year than last.
• The highest unemployment levels in two decades and ongoing recession mean millions more Americans rely on local food banks and pantries.
• More than 30 million Americans participate in federal nutritional assistance programs – the highest level in 40 years. The average benefit per person is less than $5 per day.

Hunger doesn’t discriminate. It strikes children in rural and urban settings, from single- and two-parent households, and it crosses all racial and ethnic lines. What all these children have in common is that hunger puts them at greater risk of suffering the lifelong consequences of impaired health and academic performance.

Help Tompkins County Become a Better, Healthier Place

Sharing your strength through Cooking Matters goes beyond providing food: Your involvement provides the knowledge, skills and confidence families need to make the most of whatever resources they have and feed their families.To become part of Cooking Matters in Tompkins County, please contact our Regional Coodrinator Julia Hastings-Black by phone at (607)-272-2272 Ext. 260 or by e-mail at jh369@cornell.edu