Pangs of Truth: Hunger Awareness Week in Kirkland

Do you know if your neighbors are hungry? Do their kids have enough to eat to perform well in school? 

Poverty is an epidemic hidden in plain site, with 1 in 4 American children unsure of where their next meal is coming from, according to a documentary made to make communities aware of the issue.

Kirkland is no stranger to the issue of childhood hunger: Nearly 2,300 Kirkland school children receive either free or reduced price school lunches, and eight Kirkland schools must also serve breakfast for the children of low income families to ensure that they can start their school day fed.  If you were to drive to SeaTac Airport with hungry kids lined up, every 6 seconds you would pass a King County child that faced food insecurity last year.

As part of their continuing effort to end hunger for Kirkland’s school-age children, Kirkland Nourishing Networkand Kirkland Interfaith Network invite the public to view the 2012 documentary film A Place at the Table at seven screenings throughout the city during the week of June 12-18.

Admission to each screening is free of charge . No tickets or reservations are needed, but seating is on a space-available basis. Dress is casual.

Doors for each venue will open at 6:30PM, and the movie will be screened at 7:00PM. The film is one hour 24 minutes in length.

The dates and locations for the screenings are as follows:

·         Wednesday, June 12, Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Avenue

·         Thursday, June 13, Holy Family Catholic Church, 7355 120th Avenue NE

·         Friday, June 14, Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, 10021 NE 124th Street

·         Saturday, June 15, Kirkland Stake Center of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, 7910 NE 132nd Street

·         Sunday, June 16, Friends of Youth, 13116 NE 132nd Street

·         Monday, June 17, Lake Washington Christian Church, 343 15th Avenue

·         Tuesday, June 18, Kirkland/Northshore Hopelink Center, 11011 120th Avenue NE

Chef Holly Smith of Café Juanita in Kirkland will introduce the film on opening night at Kirkland Performance Center.

After each showing, an open discussion will be held about the issues raised in the film and how people can help to address food insecurity and hunger in America. Informational displays will be available to increase understanding of current hunger relief efforts in Kirkland and beyond.

The City of Kirkland will proclaim the week of June 12-18 as “Pangs of Truth: Hunger Awareness Week”. The proclamation was presented at the city council meeting on Tuesday, June 4.

More About A Place at the Table

In the midst of plenty, one in four American children doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from, a crisis that is hiding in plain sight. Tom Colicchio (of Top Chef fame) and his wife, with the help of T Bone Burnett and Jeff Bridges, produced the movie A Place at the Table to open our eyes to what is needed to solve this problem.

The film is seen through the lens of three people who are struggling with food insecurity: a single mom who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; a fifth grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and a second grader with asthma and health issues that are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her working mother can afford.

Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts including a sociologist, nutrition policy leader, author, activists, teachers and ordinary citizens who are working to improve the lives of others. Through this mosaic, A Place at the Table shows how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation and local communities, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides — as they have in the past — that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

For More Information

For more information on A Place at the Table, see http://www.participantmedia.com/pm-films/a-place-at-the-table.

For more information on Kirkland Interfaith Network, visit http://www.kirklandinterfaith.net.

For more information on Kirkland Nourishing Network, visit http://nourishingnetworks.net/kirkland.

To view the text of the city proclamation, see http://www.kirklandwa.gov/Assets/City+Council/Council+Packets/060413/5a_HonorsProclamations.pdf (page 2).