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Editorial: Fight to end hunger When was the last time you went hungry? For many readers of this newspaper, the answer is never. For a fast-growing number of people in our community, it's all too often. This is Hunger Awareness Week in Oregon, and Gov. Ted Kulongoski has his hands full. According to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey results from 1998-2000, 21 percent of Oregon households with children reported their kids had to skip meals, 39 percent of these households said this happened every month, and most striking, 71 percent of those responding said they sometimes worry about where their next meal is coming from. Oregon ranks first in the nation for hunger, and that's unacceptable. Kulongoski is likely to point out factors that contribute to Oregon's food crisis when he gives his State of Hunger address at the World Forestry Center in Portland on Wednesday. They include: soaring housing costs and stagnant wages; a growing gap between rich and poor in Oregon; the loss of family-wage industrial jobs in favor of low-wage service jobs; and, drooping family incomes in rural parts of the state where work is primarily seasonal. Ashlanders are no strangers to these circumstances, despite the city's reputation as a quaint city of hillside homes and affluent, well-educated residents. On street after street, more and more families struggle daily to provide food for their children, and individuals forgotten by the community surrounding them rely on the kindness of local nonprofits to get a hot meal, even if it's once a week. Working families are being targeted by the Ashland Emergency Food Bank, which has extended its hours to Saturdays so mothers and father - even grandparents and guardians - can find time to pick up needed donations to feed hungry mouths at home. Countywide, 25,000 people utilized emergency food boxes in 2001-02 - 13 percent of the entire population. Statewide, the numbers are just as disheartening - 720,000 people in Oregon and Clark County, Wash., needed emergency food assistance between July 2001 and July 2002, up 10 percent from the previous year. Locally, we can make a difference by aiding groups such as ACCESS Inc., the Ashland Emergency Food Bank, the weekly Uncle Food's Diner at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland, Caring Friends, and food banks at Talent United Methodist Church and Talent Friends Church, among others. A little will go a long way to help these unselfish community agencies provide food for families in need, families who in some cases live next door. For his part, Kulongoski should not simply rail against the causes of hunger in Oregon, but instead he should outline an action plan for our state legislators, one to help erase the fear and helplessness of hunger that grips thousands of Oregonians every day. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -