Morning Sentinel
NAOMI SCHALIT AT UMA
Editorial writer details battle to feed the hungry
By SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 10/15/2007

SStaff photo by Joe Phelan JPhelan
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SStaff photo by Joe Phelan JPhelan
CONVOCATION SPEAKER: Naomi Schalit, Opinion Page Editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, gives the keynote address for the University of Maine at Augusta's Convocation on Sunday afternoon in Jewett Hall. Schalit spoke about the papers' seven day editorial series called “For I was hungry” that ran in July. “Hunger is a problem that affects all of us — far more of us than even we at the newspaper imagined when we started this project,” she said.
AUGUSTA -- Hunger is in every corner of Maine.

It affects the old. It hurts children. And it takes a moral and financial toll on society, Naomi Schalit, opinion page editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, told those gathered at the University of Maine at Augusta Sunday.

Schalit, the keynote speaker at the fourth annual UMA Convocation, shared her thoughts and research on the subject as the school kicked off a year that will be focused on health and social justice. In July, the papers ran a seven day editorial series called "For I was hungry."

"Hunger is a problem that affects all of us -- far more of us than even we at the newspaper imagined when we started this project," she said.

The hour-long Convocation drew about 60 people to Jewett Hall, along with a nearly equal number of professors who marched in wearing their caps and robes. In addition to Schalit's address, UMA President Richard Randall honored Hallowell resident Katy Perry, and Donald Winslow of Herman, with community service awards.

Perry, a writer and teacher, joined the Peace Corps at age 65 and served in Belize. She's written more than eight books and teaches a course at the university's Senior College.

"Clearly, retirement is an alien concept for this remarkable woman," Randall said.

Winslow is a retired Bangor police chief and is involved in many community activities.

In her speech, Schalit outlined how the newspaper discussed many topics before deciding to write a series of stories about hunger in Maine. She said a lawmaker from western Maine told her that food pantries in his area couldn't keep up with demand. When she looked into it further, she was surprised by what she found.

She offered these statistics as proof that hunger is a growing problem in Maine:

*In the Somerset County town of Anson, 90 percent of the children in the elementary school qualify for free and reduced price lunch. That's up from 60 percent in 1999.

*The number of food pantries in Maine has grown from 450 in 2004 to 600 now.

*Of all the states in the country, Maine had the highest percentage growth rate of hungry people over the last five years.

Schalit, who joined the newspapers in April 2006, also talked about the people who were willing to be interviewed despite the stigma that goes along with being hungry.

"Bless them for speaking of their pain at having to ask for a handout after a life of work, paying taxes, serving one's country, raising children," she said. "Some told me about their anguish and anger when -- despite a college education and a job -- they couldn't feed their kids. They opened their refrigerator doors to show me how little was inside."

Schalit, who worked with Publisher John Christie and Executive Editor Eric Conrad to come up with recommendations to address hunger in Maine, said she believes there are real solutions to the problem.

One recommendation is to require every school in Maine to offer free breakfast, which is subsidized by the federal government. The newspaper sent copies of the series to every Maine legislator, but got little response.

"These are the people who have the power to get breakfast to more hungry children in the state," she said. "And how many have we heard back from? Two."

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com

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Gary Veill of Waterville, ME
Oct 15, 2007 10:10 PM
chromedome, you can tell my 85 year old neighbor she needs to get a job and to stop whining about her social security check being too small. report abuse
chromedome of China, ME
Oct 15, 2007 9:31 PM
Hungry goes hand in hand with lazy.report abuse
2Cents of Oakland, ME
Oct 15, 2007 4:30 PM
Well of course this problem is solved by buying more land for people to take a hike on,the hungry can forage for nuts and berries!! As this newspaper recommends in today's oped; The Morning Sentinel along with the state is extremely irresponsible with taxpayers money. Maine cannot afford more state land, it is not needed, as proven we cannot afford to maintain all the land we have now. We need to lower taxes, have a business friendly environment and then more good paying jobs will come to Maine; then we can afford to eat and/or donate money to soup kitchens and food pantries for those who are mentally and physically unable to work.report abuse
Gary of Waterville, ME
Oct 15, 2007 12:30 PM
Anyone could believe that Joe can't afford a new Mercedes, Ken can't afford an backyard pool this year or that Joan can not afford health insurance.

Well Sam can't afford food and although you can believe the first three situations, you can't believe Sam's? I think some of you should go take a look at these situations before you shove them aside like you have.

On the other hand...

Schalit should have some better data though. She says free school lunches are up and there are now 600 food pantries. These stats would indicate to me that the hungry are being fed. Where are the people who aren't already getting help? How many people need assistance and can't get any?

In the end, I still think that we have enough aid available in Maine for anyone who needs it. The problem is that free lunch isn't a long term solution. report abuse

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