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Field Trips

“How can we expect our children to know and experience the joy of giving unless we teach them that the greater pleasures in life lies in the art of giving rather than receiving.”
-- James C. Penney

The Field Trip Experience: Helping to Fight Hunger and Understanding the Cycle of Poverty

Second Harvest Food Bank is pleased to offer a field trip program to area elementary, middle and high schools. The primary goals of the field trip program are to educate youth and the public on issues surrounding hunger and to allow young people all over the area the chance to make effective contributions to their communities.

All school groups, organizations and church groups are invited to participate in the field trip program.
Groups are encouraged to schedule their visits early to ensure space availability.
Each group must have a minimum of 8 people and a maximum of 25 people.
Groups must supply an appropriate number of chaperones.

This is an excellent opportunity to help your students fulfill service hour requirements!

To volunteer at Second Harvest, contact Second Harvest's Volunteer Coordinator, Ali James.
Phone: 504-734-1322 x212
Email

Childhood Hunger and Poverty

Some Hard Facts…

In all of the United States, only one major city outranks New Orleans as the poorest city. In the five-parish area surrounding New Orleans, 18% of the population lives in poverty, a figure 50% higher than the national average poverty rate. More alarming is the fact that 1 out of 4 New Orleans area children lives in poverty.

26% of New Orleans area youth live in households where the basic life necessities cannot be reached by the family’s income. Because costs like rent and utilities are inflexible, food is often the area families cut back. If children in these households are continually undernourished or malnourished, they will show immediate effects of lack of energy and difficulty concentrating. Lack of nutrition at crucial childhood developmental stages contributes to cognitive limitations and behavioral impairments that constrict productivity and inhibit cognitive functioning for a lifetime.

One of every four New Orleans area children is denied, through the lack of adequate nutrition, the basic building blocks to succeed and achieve and adult life outside of the constraints of poverty. Poverty is truly a cycle, and many of those who find themselves caught in this cycle are denied the fundamental tools of good health and a strong body and mind to improve their lives.