- One in five families in the South Georgia region are dealing with food insecurity.
- Food insecurity costs the region $400 million each year.
- Second Harvest of South Georgia has been working doubly since Hurricane Idalia.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
One in 5 people living in South Georgia don't know where their next meal is coming from, and Hurricane Idalia has made food even harder to come by.
I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta where Second harvest of South Georgia is working to bring that number down and help their fellow neighbors get by.
Food insecurity is defined as lack of consistent access to adequate food due to a lack of money and other resources for a period of time According to Second Harvest'd website, childhood hunger costs the people of South Georgia more than $400 million per year.
This cost is felt by Deausha Townes, who resides in Brittany Woods, a low-income apartment complex on the Southside of town. She said keeping a full fridge was hard before the Hurricane, and it has only complicated her food budget.
"My baby likes to eat a lot, so without having food stamps and having to spend money on food, there's only certain stuff I can get her with money being tight."
Low-income areas have been having a hard time with their homes intact, but other places have to deal with food insecurity on top of damage done to their homes.
Hazel Edgecomb lost her entire home in the storm and has been living out of her vehicle for the last three weeks. Having a consistent hot meal hasn't come easy for her, and the lack of resources have put additional stress on her.
"I'm a senior citizen. I'm on a fixed income. I ain't got no reason going to a loan. I was okay before the storm came along, but now I got to go month to month? I don't like that."
Franklin Richards, CEO of Second Harvest, told me that September is Hunger Action Month, and it's important to bring awareness to the challenges of food insecurity in South Georgia.
"We do food pantries, we serve after school feeding programs and our kids cafe programs, we support shelters, we support different community programs everyday".
Second Harvest currently helps over 300 nonprofits and agencies address food insecurity.
I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter for Valdosta, ABC27.
