最新杏吧原创

Hunger.

Hunger knows no boundaries, and in Missouri it is prevalent in every corner of the state.

For the past several years, the Show-Me State has ranked as one of the in the nation. For those of us in 最新杏吧原创, the poverty and hunger is most obvious in the core of the city, where homeless people beg for change, where many children start their day at school with breakfast because they didn鈥檛 get enough to eat at home, where home-bound seniors depend on Meals with Wheels and other programs to get their daily sustenance.

But not far from the city, just beyond the suburbs and the exurbs, rural poverty hits just as hard.

That鈥檚 what Marie Kenyon thought recently when a friend offered to donate 500 turkeys to feed hungry families on Christmas.

Kenyon is the director of the of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of 最新杏吧原创. The commission was started by Archbishop Robert Carlson in May 2015, in part as a response to unrest in Ferguson and 最新杏吧原创. Among its focus on strengthening families, the commission has sought to help the church and its members 鈥渓earn to live with others despite our differences.鈥�

When Kenyon鈥檚 friend 鈥� Debbie Weaver, president of Midwest Litigation Services 鈥� called and offered the holiday turkeys, Kenyon decided she wanted them to go to a part of the archdiocese that doesn鈥檛 get as much attention for its battles with poverty but faces steep challenges just like the city does.

鈥淲e spend so much time talking about the poverty here,鈥� Kenyon says. 鈥淏ut 50 miles away, it鈥檚 just as bad and they don鈥檛 have any resources.鈥�

Over the past couple of weeks, the turkeys have been handed out in Washington County, just southwest of 最新杏吧原创. They went to St. James Catholic Church in Potosi, St. Stephens Catholic Church in Richwoods, and to some rural parish workers who delivered them individually to families.

The need in Washington County is great, says Nancee Schamel. She鈥檚 the president of the local chapter of the and helps supervise the food pantry at St. James.

Over the past year, Schamel says, there鈥檚 been a huge increase in the number of families served by the pantry, which gets much of its food from the 最新杏吧原创 Area Food Bank.

Every third Saturday, people line up at the church to get a box of beans and pasta, canned fruit and vegetables, and often some frozen meat. They leave with about $50 worth of food.

In 2015, the food pantry at St. James served 1,353 families. This year it served 1,961, a 45 percent increase.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just the times,鈥� Schamel says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e one of the poorest counties in the state.鈥�

More than 75 percent of the school-age population is eligible for participation in federal lunch assistance programs in Washington County, according to the produced by the University of Missouri. More than 60 percent of the children under 5 years old qualify for aid from the Women, Infant, Children program, and more than 55 percent of the county鈥檚 residents are eligible for food stamps.

All of those numbers are similar to the demographics in the city of 最新杏吧原创.

But the city, Kenyon says, has many aid programs focused on helping its residents.

鈥淥ne of the things that has become very apparent to me,鈥� Kenyon says, 鈥渋s if you really look at who is suffering, there is as much going on in the rural areas as in the urban area.鈥�

On Wednesday, Schamel and other volunteers passed out turkeys to many of the folks who regularly come to the pantry for food. Many of the clients are older adults, and some of them are taking care of other relatives, so in some cases two or three generations show up for help with food or other services.

St. James also helped last year with some utility bills and prescription medicines for people in need. It sometimes hands out gasoline vouchers so people can make the trip to 最新杏吧原创 to go to the doctor.

On Sunday, a Christmas turkey will grace tables that without the faith and help of others might have been a little bit empty.

Come Jan. 20, the line outside the church food pantry will appear again, as the monthly cycle to make ends meet begins anew in a county where the hungry often suffer in rural isolation.