More than 25 million of our citizens last year turned to the nation's
largest network of food banks, soup kitchens, and shelters for meals -
up 9 percent from 2001, according to a report this date in The
Washington Post.

Those seeking food included 9 million children and nearly 3 milion
senior citizens, says a report from America's Second Harvest.

"The face of hunger doesn't have a particular color, and it doesn't
come from a particular neighborhood," said Ertharin Cousin,  executive
vice president of the group.  "They are your neighbors, they are
working Americans, they are senior citizens who have worked their
entire lives, and they are children."

The organization said it interviewed 52,000 people at food banks,
kitchens and shelters across the country last year. The network
represents about 39,000 hunger-relief organizations, or about 80
percent of those in the United States.  The vast majority are run
locally by churches and private nonprofit groups.

The surveys were done before hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf
Coast in 2005.  After the hurricanes, demand for emergency food tripled
in Gulf Coast states, a report showed.

(The Washington Post, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006, A2)