Amanda Taylor, News 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- An alarming trend about Oklahoma's children.
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy says in the last 11 years child deaths have increased 16 percent in our state.
The number of children living in single-parent households increased by 17 percent. And the number of children living in poverty increased 16 percent.
In fact, studies have found one in five Oklahoma children risk going to bed hungry every night, that's why the Food Bank needs our support.
Detra James' two children bring home a backpack from school every Friday. It's packed with snacks like crackers, milk, and peanut butter. It tides them over on weekends and after school before mom comes home from work.
Seven-year-old Jeffrey and 5-year-old Demetrice work up an appetite after a long day at school.
"When the day is almost over, I get hungry," Jeffrey James said.
"When they come home, they attack that bag," Detra James said.
That bag is from the Food Bank's Food For Kids program.
"If you're running short on food, you're on a budget and you just have ‘x' amount of food in your refrigerator, it works fine because they don't have to get in the refrigerator. That's, you know, for another meal," Detra James said.
And through this, she teaches her children to give back.
"If somebody wants some food because they're hungry and they don't got nothin' to eat, all we have to do is say, ‘Momma, can we give our friends something to eat because they don't got none?' and she'll say, ‘Yeah,'" Jeffrey James said.
"It's a blessing there's kind people out there that's able to donate this food to us," Detra James said. "One day, I'm going to be able to donate some food for a back pack."
You can give too. In fact, the Food Bank is in desperate need to get funding for this school year. Two hundred dollars provides one backpack for a child for the entire school year, but no donation is too small.
To donate to Food for Kids, click here.
