On the Food Bank of the Rockies website, you can find the following statistics related to hunger and poverty in Colorado:
• 11.2% of people in Colorado live in poverty. (quickfact.census.gov)
• 13% of Colorado children live in poverty. (nccp.org)
• 1 in 8 households in Colorado are food insecure, or food insecure with hunger (USDA – 2009)
• The number of children living in poverty has increased 85 percent since 2000, with more than 192,000 children living at or below the poverty level. (coloradokids.org – 2009)
• Poverty in Colorado has increased since 2001. The total poverty rate in Colorado increased from 9.6% in 2001 to 11.4% in 2008. Furthermore, Colorado’s child poverty rate increased from 12.2% in 2001 to 15.1% in 2008, and the family poverty rate increased from 6.8% in 2001 to 7.8% in 2008. As we examine the 2008 figures for poverty in Colorado, we should be mindful of the fact that while Colorado is arguably worse off than in was in 2001, the worst has yet to be seen in the data.
• A 2009 Point-in-Time count conducted by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative found that families comprise nearly half of the homeless population.
• 8.5% of Colorado seniors live in poverty.

According to Hunger Free Colorado, “Colorado has the fastest growing rate of childhood poverty in the nation, a fact that has huge implications for the number of children who are and will be experiencing hunger.”

At DfD’s 2011 toy shop, we partnered with Hunger Free Colorado to offer outreach assistance to the families in attendance. At the event, some of the families were assisted with the application process for SNAP and WIC benefits. Dolls for Daughters® will partner with Hunger Free Colorado again for our 2012 toy shop. We are so honored to be partnering with them because of the amazing work they are doing to bring about change. Through No Kid Hungry Colorado, a partnership between the Office of the Governor, Share Our Strength and Hunger Free Colorado, No Kid Hungry Colorado has created an aggressive five-year plan with 10 practical objectives:

1. Provide children access to healthy meals during the summer
2. Ensure that all children have access to a nutritious breakfast
3. Support families with the ability to purchase and acquire food to prepare at home
4. Ensure the nutrition and health of pregnant and postpartum women, infants and young children
5. Support child care providers’ ability to provide healthy meals and snacks
6. Help afterschool programs provide children with good nutrition and healthy snacks
7. Encourage children and families to make healthy food choices through nutrition education
8. Ensure access to high-quality nutritious food in low-income communities and schools
9. Ensure families can access food from food banks and food pantries
10. Improve the economic security of working families

Together, these leaders are committed to ending childhood hunger in Colorado by removing the roadblocks to existing programs so that Colorado’s children get the food they need.

In the past, Feeding America stated that 1 in 8 people struggle with hunger. The statistics continue to change. Feeding America now states on their website that 1 in 6 people struggle with hunger. To counter this growing epidemic, Food Bank of the Rockies services both Colorado and Wyoming. Here is a snapshot of who they are helping:

42% of the members of households served by FBR are children under 18 years old
10% of the members of households served by FBR are children age 0 to 5 years
  5% of the members of households served by FBR are elderly
43% of households include at least one employed adult
71% have incomes below the official federal poverty level during the previous month
49% report having to choose between paying for food or paying for utilities or heating fuel
44% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage bill
36% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care
25% of households served by FBR have at least one household member in poor health

Food Bank of the Rockies provided food assistance to 500 of the 835 families we served at our 2011 toy shop. We know that 71.4% of the 835 families have a combined household income of $15,000 or less. Our partnership with the Food Bank of the Rockies is invaluable. We know that hunger is a major issue facing the families we serve. If we can help them during the holidays by putting food on their table, then we have helped ease the weight on the shoulders of these parents. We hope to partner with Food Bank of the Rockies again this year and provide food to 1,000 families!