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According to the annual Map the Meal Gap study, 167,950 people, or nearly 13% of Kentuckiana’s population, were food insecure in 2022. This is a 33.2% increase from in total for the previous year.

Vincent James Sr.
| Opinion contributor

Every Thanksgiving, Dare to Care remembers the true cost of hunger.

As dinner table conversations across the country focus on recipes passed down and the quality of a meal shared with family, I hope our community will consider stories like Bobby Ellis’s and then take action.

The day before Thanksgiving 1969, Bobby was found dead in his family home, surrounded by his five siblings, all malnourished and underweight. Their parents told the Courier Journal at the time that they had little money left for food after paying their bills.

The 9-year-old boy weighed just 30 pounds when police carried him to the gates of General Hospital. Her sister, Nicki, was 2 at the time.

Fifty-five years later, Nicki is healthy and proud to talk about her brother because our community stood up and took action. Our community showed up for Ellis’ children to make sure they had a safe home and full bellies. We introduced ourselves to our neighbors by checking in and putting the kids first. We introduced ourselves to our community by breaking barriers of faith, politics, and zip codes to challenge each other to “Dare to Care.”

Earlier this month, we stood alongside Nicki at our annual memorial event honoring Bobby Ellis. This year we put aside our candles and took action by organizing our first Bobby Ellis Memorial Food Pantry.

What does caring for your neighbor look like?

As our neighbors stocked up on nutritious and healthy food, we asked them a question that I now ask you. What does caring for your neighbor look like?

Take a minute to answer this question before reading on.

Our neighbors told us that caring is spreading hope and love, saying hello and checking in, sharing a meal and making sure people are safe and fed.

Our neighbors and their children need our help more than ever.

According to the annual Map the Meal Gap study, 167,950 people, or nearly 13% of Kentuckiana’s population, were food insecure in 2022. This represents a 33.2% increase from the total of 126 060 people from the previous year. We went from one in eight children experiencing food insecurity to one in five children.

Combat food insecurity

Our community wrote the book on the need to show up to our neighbors because after Bobby died, we had to challenge Kentuckiana to show up again.

Check in on your friends and family. As the holiday season dawns, connect with your loved ones. It is often difficult to tackle the underlying causes of food insecurity – unemployment, poverty and unequal access to food – alone.

Expand your knowledge of available resources. Dare to Care and its partners are strategically located to engage every corner of our communities. Our interactive map offers local resources that fit your schedule.

Donate to the Dare to Care Food Bank. It is one of the most necessary sources of support. When you donate, you give Dare to Care the opportunity to purchase much-needed items to meet the nutritional needs of our communities. A donation to Dare to Care, no matter the size, is a commitment to a healthier, stronger community. Donate today.

Vincent James Sr. is President and CEO of Dare to Care Food Bank. He joined the team in October 2021, after serving as Louisville Metro Community Development Manager. Learn more at daretocare.org.