Food Bank of South Central Michigan

Experience what it's like to be hungry and in need! Click here for Hunger 101 (courtesy of Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes).

Access the Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2006. Click here.

Poverty in Kalamazoo County. To view the entire study which combines the latest poverty data (July 2003) with interviews from 200 low-income residents. Click here. (Please be patient, it will take time to load, but it's worth the wait, chockful of useful data!)
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HUNGER IN AMERICA 2006: In February, 2006 the results of our local tie-in to this national study were released.
     To read the Local Summary click here.
     To read the full length local study, Click here.
     To read the national study, from America's Second Harvest click here.
     To read the Michigan study, from the Food Bank Council of Michigan, click here.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors recently released its annual Report on Hunger & Homelessness 2006. To read the report and download it. Click here You will need Acrobat Reader to view it.

The following information and statistics are from the Food Bank of South Central Michigan's tie-in to the national hunger study conducted for America's Second Harvest, Hunger in America 2006:

A. THE CLIENTS WE SERVE...

In a typical year we serve 92,018 individuals through our 272 member agency network covering eight counties in south central Michigan.

39% of the household members of Food Bank clients are children 17 years and younger; 10% of all households have senior citizens 65 and older.

The average household income among all clients in 2004 was $10,490.

72% of households receiving Food Bank food had an annual household income
below the federal poverty level;

36% of adult clients served by Food Bank agencies reported that they didn't eat for
a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food during the past year.

41% of the clients served had to choose between paying the rent or buying food
in the past year .

45% of all Food Bank of SCM adult clients reported they were in poor or
fair health.

B. WHAT DO OUR MEMBER AGENCIES THINK OF
US?

94% of the pantries in the Food Bank's network, and
    91% of the soup kitchens said elimination of Food
    Bank food would have a significant or devastating impact
    on their program.

The Food Bank of SCM is by far the single most
     important source of food for most of their network
     members, accounting for 74% of the food used by
     pantries, 65% of soup kitchens' food and 33% of
     shelters' food.

source: Hunger in America 2006, local study for Food Bank of South Central Michigan.
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Our Service Area (above figure) includes Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson, Kalamazoo,
Lenawee and St. Joseph Counties.

POVERTY IN OUR SERVICE AREA

According to the U.S. Census estimate, there are 861,791 individuals living in our service area. The number living in poverty is as follows:

County	Population (a)	# in Poverty	% in Poverty	Avg. # House-holds Rec. Food Stamps/Mo. (d)	% Change
Barry	59,892	4,311(b)	7.3%	2,344	6.7%
Branch	46,460	4,831(b)	11.2%	2,355	13.3%
Calhoun	139,191	19,117(c)	14.2%(c)	10,336	6.7%
Hillsdale	47,066	4,658(b)	10.0%(b)	2,230	9.3%
Jackson	163,629	22,744(c)	13.9%(c)	8,617	10.3%
Kalamazoo	240,536	37,523(c)	15.6%(c)	14,481	10.3%
Lenawee	102,033	9,182(c)	9.0%(c)	4,012	14.4%
St. Joseph	62,984	7,179(b)	11.5%(b)	3,331	2.3%
Total Service Area	861,791	109,545	12.7%	47,706	N/A

Source: (a) U.S. Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, July, 2005 estimate. (b) U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates, Nov. 2005. (c) U.S. Census Bureau, 2005 American Community Survey. (d) Source: Economic Security Bulletin, Michigan League for Human Services, June 2007.

For more information from the 2000 U.S. Census, by county, for any state
in the country, please click here.

U.S. CENSUS DATA FOR SELECTED CITIES IN FOOD BANK SCM SERVICE AREA:

City	Population	# in Poverty	% in Poverty
Adrian	21,674	2,991	13.8%
Albion	9,144	1,828	20.0%
Battle Creek	53,827 (a)	7,751 (a)	14.4% (a)
Bronson	2,421	307	12.7%
Centreville	1,679	132	7.9%
Coldwater	12,697	1,219	9.6%
Hastings	7,095	574	8.1%
Hillsdale	8,223	743	10.3%
Jackson	35,152 (a)	6,890 (a)	19.6% (a)
Kalamazoo	75,312 (a)	18,300 (a)	24.3%(a)
Portage	45,679 (a)	2,193	4.8%
Sturgis	11,286	1,829	16.2%
Tecumseh	8,674	425	4.9%
Three Rivers	7,328	1,414	19.3%

Source: Census 2000 U.S. Census Bureau, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics. (
a) Quickfacts, U.S. Census Bureau, updated 1-12-07..

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KIDS COUNT IN MICHIGAN 2007

The following table compares the % of children living at nutritional risk (receiving free/reduced meals) in 2007 vs. 1999. This data came from the Kids Count In Michigan 1999 through 2007 Data Books.

% children living at nutritional risk

County	2007*	2006*	2005*	2004*	2003*	2002*	2001*	2000*	1999*
Barry	32%	28%	24%	24%	22%	21%	18%	20%	21%
Branch	41%	40%	40%	34%	31%	32%	28%	31%	27%
Calhoun	43%	41%	40%	37%	39%	37%	35%	35%	36%
Hillsdale	45%	43%	41%	39%	35%	35%	32%	31%	29%
Jackson	42%	40%	39%	37%	37%	35%	35%	33%	33%
Kalamazoo	40%	37%	36%	35%	35%	31%	33%	32%	31%
Lenawee	31%	29%	29%	27%	25%	24%	21%	22%	22%
St. Joseph	47%	44%	42%	39%	37%	35%	33%	31%	31%
STATE AVERAGE	38%	37%	36%	33%	33%	32%	31%	36%	32%

Source: Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2007. To access the Kids Count Data Book 2007, click here.

* we use % of children receiving free/reduced meals as an indicator of living at nutritional risk, as the eligibility for this program is based on household income.

Kids Count is coordinated by the Michigan League for Human Services. The Data Book covers a wide variety of indicators, including economic security, child health and child safety. For a hard copy, contact the Michigan League for Human Services at 517-487-5436. Or visit their website by clicking here.

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