Group Members:Dylan Zihmer, Mark Altmyer, Tristan Ivey, Antonio Ionadi

Title: Hatin on Hunger!

Specific Purpose: persuade people to help out at food banks and to donate to them
Thesis Statement: Hunger is a serious problem, and needs to be fixed And can be
fixed by the work of the food banks
Introduction Strategy we chose: fictional anecdote and quote from a person affected
by hunger.
Introduction: Times were hard, there was very little food barely any money and dad
had left us to live with only our mom. Mom didnt work so my brother and I were left to
provide for our mom and ourselves. I worked at the local supermarket cleaning floors
stocking shelves, they wouldnt let me work at the cash register because they knew
how desperate I was for money. My brother wasnt as old as me so his job didn't pay
him very well but, all we could do was try. There were some days where when I was
stocking the shelves that I would steal food because of how little we would make.
Mom started getting sick, she wouldn't eat she wouldnt move sometimes she would
just lay on the couch to take a nap and lay there all day. My brother was caught
stealing money from people and we had no money to pay to keep him out of jail. That
left me to take care of my mom and myself. I started going to bed hungrier and
hungrier the food was running out and my job wasn't helping anymore. Then there
was a light at the end of the tunnel. I found a local food bank they helped me out
payed to help my mom get better and saved our life. I am now older and successful
and I also donate time, food, and money to the local foodbank. I look back sometimes
and think I probably wouldn't be alive if it wasnt for the foodbank (Dylan Zihmer).
Stories like these are the reason we chose this problem to fix because this story
makes you feel bad for the people and want to help them. As Mother Teresa once
said If you cant feed a hundred people, then feed just one. We believe she is right,
and hunger is a real problem that needs to be fixed and can be fixed by the work of
the food banks

Problem (2 paragraphs)

First, In this economy that we live in today, it is hard to find a good job
that will provide you with enough money to support a family. Without a job like this a
family cannot get nutritious foods. Without a good supply of food, the family will suffer
from malnutrition and will get sick and maybe even die. For 1 in 6 people in the
United States, hunger is a very real struggle (Hunger Facts). Since the majority of the
citys population is African American one researcher states, Of all the counties where
a majority of residents are African American, 93.1 percent belong to the highly
insecure category (Chokshi). Also, this can affect the mental aspect of some people.
This can affect a persons attitude towards the economy and may want to start a
protest. Dozens, possibly hundreds, in Seattle continued to reject food for fifth day, in
what activists describe as a tense stand-off with Ice authorities (Carroll). It can also
change a person's activity during the day. Without the proper nutrition, that comes with
eating food, a person loses energy and cannot function as they would with the proper
nutrition. In conclusion, without having the proper nutrition, it is hard for people to
function properly without the essential nutrition, for their mind and body.

In these days, more and more people are without jobs, and with this comes more and
more families that are turning to food banks as a source of food to support
themselves. The insecurity rate was estimated based on related indicators, such as
poverty, unemployment and homeownership, all of which have worsened over the
past decade (Chokshi). With all these people turning to food banks as a way to
support their families, food banks are not having enough food supplies to help out all
of the families that are in need. Hunger is the worlds #1 health risk. It kills more
people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined (Hunger Facts)This lack of
food at food banks is effecting the physical and mental state of these less fortunate
families. It causes a lot of malnutrition from lack of food. It could also affect people's
mental states because without proper nutrition, this problem affects more than what
just meets the eye.

Causes (1 paragraph) The main cause for people going hungry is that, with the
economy we have today, it is hard to find good paying jobs.

First, there are many causes to people being without food, but the main reason
is that there is a lack of jobs in our economy as of right now. Some areas in
Pittsburgh, like Armstrong and Fayette County, have an unemployment rate of 7.8%
and 7.3%, which is larger than the national average which is 6.5 (Unemployment). The
bad economy is leading to people who cannot find jobs or find good paying jobs that
they can provide food for their families. If they cannot get jobs, then they do not have
enough income to pay for their food. Although, we are focusing on the problems in
Pittsburgh, these are universal problems. Lack of unemployment was the number one
cause followed by low wages and high cost of housing (Chokshi). All in all, this is a
chain reaction because if you dont have a job, then you do not have money, if you do
not have any money than you cannot pay for your food, which leads to sickness,
stress , and personal anguish, which can harm your personality because dealing with
that is hard from a mental aspect along with a physical aspect.

Solutions (2 paragraphs) Donate both food and money to food banks and start local
food drives, also donate your time.
There are many things that people can do to fight hunger in their community.
The first thing that your community can do is start a food drive. Starting a food drive
will help out a local food bank that saves peoples lives who either cant afford food to
feed their families or they are homeless and they are in desperate need of a meal.
Nearly 49 million Americans are facing hunger are more than 16 million are children
(USDA). Starting a food drive is very helpful right now because the food banks are
running out of food to give the hungry people. If more and more communities would
start food drives and give to food banks with every donation little by little you can save
lives. For instance, the food program Second Harvest Food Program donated 52
million pounds of food (Food Bank). In addition to donating food to local food banks
to help eliminate the problem of hunger in the Pittsburgh Area, there are many other
ways. For example, you can donate money to local food banks and charities, that will
take this money and buy food with it and give it to people who are less fortunate, and
who really need it. If you think about it, there are many things people waste money on.
If you take away one of those things you could feed a family and make a difference in
their lives. Also, say you are in a tough situation financially, but you still want to help
out, you can donate your time and help out at a food drive and stand and collect the
food, or you could volunteer at a soup kitchen and serve the people food. Along with
the fact this will help their physical need of hunger, you can make a difference by
smiling or a saying a nice thing can help the mental aspect that they have to deal with.
Doing this will make you feel good about yourself, because you will know you made a
positive difference in someones life and when you do something nice for someone
else you feel better about yourself. In conclusion, there are many ways to help out and
it can be in a variety of ways, but it will benefit them and you.
Also, another way to help stop hunger in a slightly less direct way is to help
children get the education that they deserve. In 2012, 46.5 million people were in
poverty and 20.4 million people were in deep poverty (Poverty Steady). This education
will help them later in life so that they can get good-paying jobs much easier. Having
these jobs in the first place would tremendously decrease the risk of ever having to
deal with the fear of hunger because they will have the money to buy the necessary
food to survive. Education is the best weapon against poverty and hunger.
Approximately 67 million students completed early childhood education courses in
2010 (Statistics). Having proper education means having better opportunities and
more access to income and food.


Conclusion: One step at a time we can all end hunger
We need you to donate food or volunteer at a food bank today. If our plan of donating
to food banks is adopted by the public one step at a time we can end hunger. There
will always be some people that are hungry, but if we can cut into that problem, and if
that means one less family or person is hungry, then it is worth it. In America one in
six people got to bed hungry (Hunger Facts). That is sixteen percent of people, this
plan will work by giving the donated food to that sixteen percent so, it decreases to a
lower number. In the Pittsburgh community the Light of Life Mission, collects food and
gives it to people who struggle to obtain food. I volunteer at the Food Bank to give
back. One never knows when an unexpected life event can make one need the
services related to the Food Bank, (Volunteer Quotes). There is another side to this
even though you are helping people get food; you are also helping yourself because
you feel good about yourself when you help other people and you can realize in your
own life how much you have to be thankful.
"The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation."
- John F. Kennedy
.



Of all the counties where a majority of residents are African American, 93.1 percent
belong to the highly insecure category (Chokshi)



On average, the food-insecure need nearly $70 more for food
a month
Approximately 49 million people in the United States live in food-insecure households,
with nearly 16 million of them being children

The insecurity rate was estimated based on related indicators, such as poverty,
unemployment and homeownership, all of which have worsened over the past
decade.






























Works Cited
Hunger Facts. feedingamerica.org. Feeding America, 2014. Web. 25 April 2014

Choksi, Naraj. What hunger and homelessness look like in Americas cities.
washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 April 2014
Hunger Facts. compassion.com. Compassion in Jesus name, 2014. Web. 25 April 2014
Reed, Martena. Poverty Steady for most, Outlook still bleak. endhomelessness.org. National
Alliance to end homelessness, 17 September 2013. Web. 25 April 2014

USDA reports 49 million are food insecure. feedingamerica.org. Feeding America, 2014.
web. 27 April 2014