Maryland Hunger Solutions In the News
March 12, 2010
The Most Important Meal of the Day
MDHS Director Kimberley Chin spent the morning with Sheilah Kast, host of Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast, to talk about MDHS' recent school breakfast report. - Maryland Morning
April 15, 2009
More low-income students eating breakfast at school
"If children have breakfast in the morning, they have better attendance and less visits to the school nurse," said Kimberley Chin, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions, which measured the state's participation in the school breakfast program. - Gazette.net
Nov 24, 2008
Maryland Targets Childhood Hunger
The Partnership to End Childhood Hunger will help reach more children by increasing their participation in under-utilized food and nutrition programs. - WJZ Baltimore
November 22, 2008
Editor's notebook: EVEN HERE
Maryland is, by most measurements, a rich state. But that doesn't mean we don't have real poverty - and perhaps even hunger - here. This week the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center released a report on food and nutrition programs. One eye-opening number for Maryland: Food stamp participation here increased 45 percent - from 263,000 to 382,000 - between August 2003 and August 2008. The number might easily be higher. Going by fiscal 2005 statistics, only 41 percent of the state's eligible working poor use food stamps. Many people probably don't know they are eligible. The food stamp program is not exactly luxurious: It offers $1 per person for each meal. Given such limits, those who have to rely on food stamps tend to stock up on food that is cheap and filling but not nutritious, leading to obesity and other health problems, particularly for children. If nothing else, this is something for more fortunate people to contemplate when they wonder if the current economic crunch is a reason for them to curtail donations to food pantries and similar voluntary programs. The short answer: No. Those donations are needed more than ever. - Annapolis Capital (Contact Annapolis Capital for a copy of the full story.)
November 20, 2008
Even in rich Md., children go hungry, group says
In Maryland, applicants have to complete a face-to-face interview to be approved for food stamps, said Kimberley Chin, the director of Maryland Hunger Solutions. The state may institute phone interviews so people will not have to take time off work or find transportation. Chin said she and Kevin McGuire, the head of Maryland's food stamp program, and some of his staff took the food stamp challenge, which required them to feed their families for one week only using food stamps, which allots $1 per person for each meal. Thus, they could only spend $21 per person that week to provide three meals each day. "The stress of just having to cook and think about a nutritious meal on this budget while you're working full time, it's amazing," Chin said. "It's really difficult to live on what food stamps provide for you. That was a big eye awakening for a lot of people." - WTOP/Capital News Service; Delmarva Now (contact Delmarva Now for a copy of the story.)
July 23rd, 2008
"Demand for Food Stamps Grows," from WYPR
It sounds like the internet might be simplifying the application and screening process somewhat... where do folks log on to find out more? There are a number of places: in the outro to the story we name: www.mdhungersolutions.org. - Station Showcase with PRX
August 31, 2008
Food stamp usage on the rise
"I would say certainly the overall economy is affecting people who would maybe make it on their own and are reluctant to apply," [Christine] Bickle said. Population increase is also a reason why the number of food stamp participants have increased in recent years, she said. The number is expected to continue to increase. New guidelines will make food stamps available to more people, said Kimberly Chin, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions. - Frederick News-Post
August 3, 2008
A Food Stamp Challenge That We All Can Help With
Marylanders are struggling to feed themselves. Walk down the aisles of Safeway, Giant or Santoni's in Baltimore, and you'll see shoppers clutching coupons, comparing items and eliminating some of them from their lists after discovering that prices have jumped yet again. - The Washington Post
April 2, 2008
Food stamp budget makes folks hungry
To better understand the dilemma and to raise awareness about the problem, the department of human resources asked the directors of local departments of social services in Maryland to take the Food Stamp Challenge, Bridgett said. It was quite an eye-opening experience, she said, adding she was given $3 a day to provide food for herself for five days. She subsisted on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, two bananas, soup and generic tea. –Southern Maryland Newspapers Online
March 14, 2008
Food Stamp Challenge Highlights Need for Reform
"On day 1 of the Food Stamp Challenge, Kevin McGuire is shopping at Santoni's - a family-owned supermarket in East Baltimore. Grocery basked in hand, McGuire is Maryland's Food Stamp Director. He paces the aisles looking how to spend 21 dollars on food that will last him seven days." - WYPR News in Maryland
March 3, 2008
School Breakfast Program Gives Baltimore Students A Boost
“Tables full of chatty elementary school students chow down in this Baltimore City charter school cafeteria. They slop spoonfuls of cereal, dunk graham crackers in milk, bite into sticky burritos, and sip juice. Wolfe Street Academy principal, Mark Gaither, watches closely." - WYPR News in Maryland
