The "Lincoln County Hunger Walk" is set for Tuesday, June 6, beginning at 10 a.m. at the LCHS Gymnasium.

Held in observance of June 6 as "National Hunger Awareness Day," the walk is being sponsored by the Lincoln County Food Pantry, the Faith Tabernacle Food Pantry, and the Golden Harvest Food Bank, a locally supported, non-profit, charitable food distribution center headquartered in Augusta.

The theme for the day is "Taking Change to Make a Change."

Organizers of the event are asking those concerned about hunger in the community to bring their spare pocket change to the gymnasium anytime between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Local residents are also urged to participate in the walk to make the community more aware of hunger in Lincoln County and in the nation. Water will be provided along the 1.3mile route.

The walkers will leave the gymnasium at 10 a.m., turning right onto Dallas Street and then left onto Humphrey Street. They will follow Humphrey Street to Washington Street (Highway 378), take a left, and proceed to Main Street where they will take another left. Then, at the intersection of Main Street and Peachtree Street, the walkers will turn left onto Peachtree Street and shortly thereafter, right onto Ward Avenue which will lead them back to LCHS.

Following the walk and a short program in the gymnasium, lunch will be served.

"Whether people walk or not, we hope all of our citizens will donate their spare change to help us fight hunger in our own backyard," said Carrie Parker, operations manger for the Lincoln County Food Pantry. "Those pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters can really add up."

Citizens are urged to donate funds to help feed the hungry and/or participate in the walk to make the community more aware of hunger in Lincoln County and elsewhere.

To join the Hunger Walk, call Carrie Parker at 706-359-3004, Travis Reid at 706-359-3967, or Everlene Glaze at 706-359-1386.

Some facts about hunger in Lincoln County, the CSRA, the state, and the nation are:

According to the 2000 census, 15.3 percent of Lincoln County's population lived below the federal poverty line. This translates into 1,277 persons out of a total population of 8,348 - these individuals are mostly the working poor, people who are at risk of going without food. The figure statewide is 13 percent, compared to five percent in Columbia County.

During FY 2005, the Golden Harvest Food Bank distributed 129,633 pounds of food to local residents through the Brown Bag Program, sponsored by the Lincoln County Senior Citizens Center, and the two food pantries.

The food bank distributed food to 10,084 individuals (4,600 families) in Lincoln County during FY 2004. Of those 10,084 people, 2,378 were senior citizens and 1,889 were under the age of 18.

During FY 2005, it was reported that the food pantries distributed food to 12,798 individuals (4,685 families), a figure which showed a dramatic increase over FY 2004. Of these 12,798 individuals, 2,373 were senior citizens and 1,937 were children.

These statistics include duplications, since many families and individuals were served multiple times throughout both years.

Within its 25-county service area, the Golden Harvest Food Bank served 76,200 unduplicated clients last year or one in 10 people. The service area's total population is 747,586.

The average poverty rate is 17 percent in the food bank's service area.

In a survey of clients in the 25county area served by the Golden Harvest Food Bank,

(1) 48 percent of the adults polled ate less than they thought they should last year.

(2) 30.9 percent of the adults reported they were hungry but did not eat.

(3) 13.8 percent of the adults polled did not eat for a whole day.

(4) 75.7 percent had applied for food stamps, with 41 percent currently receiving food stamps. Those who did receive food stamps reported that they lasted an average of 2.1 weeks.

(5) 32.5 percent of adults indicated that their children did not have enough to eat the past year.

(6) 8.9 percent of those questioned reported that their children skipped meals because there was not enough money for food.

(7) 29 percent of all the adults under the age of 65 were employed.

(8) 17.9 percent of food pantry clients did not have access to a telephone last year.

(9) 37.6 percent did not have access to a vehicle.

Moreover, those surveyed said they had to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel (44.3 percent), paying the rent or mortgage (32.7 percent) or paying for medicine or medical care (34.8 percent). Fifty-four percent of all households had to choose among one of the above.

Children who are denied an adequate diet run a greater risk than children in other low income homes of not reaching their full potential as individuals.

Children who are undernourished have trouble concentrating and bonding with other children and are more likely to suffer illnesses that force them to be absent from school. Also, they consistently perform poorly on standardized tests. Poor performance early in school is a major factor for dropping out of school in later years.

According to labor statistics, educational attainment is perhaps the greatest indicator of job and income mobility, so the impact of childhood hunger can last a lifetime.

Studies have shown that even mildly undernourished children may potentially suffer abnormal brain, cognitive, and psychological impairment that, if not corrected, can be irreversible.

Approximately 96,000,000,000 pounds of food are thrown away each year by the food service industry.

More than 38 million Americans suffer from hunger or food insecurity, one of the more solvable social issues in this country.

The Golden Harvest Food Bank was founded in 1982 as one solution to the problem of hunger in Augusta. Since that time, it has distributed over 108 million pounds of grocery products to the individuals in its service area which reaches as far east as Putnam County, Georgia, and as far west as Bamburg County, South Carolina.