Center for Food Action and Real Housewives of New Jersey star, Jackie Goldschneider launched the Get REAL About Hunger campaign August 4^th to bring attention to the issue of childhood hunger in northern New Jersey.  The Get REAL program began with a brunch attended by Goldschneider and two dozen influential women, from diverse backgrounds and occupations, to discuss existing stereotypes and misconceptions about hunger and identify ways to bring attention to the issue.

“It’s hard to understand how we can have families in this part of New Jersey who don’t have enough to eat,” said Goldschneider. “In fact, 10% of households in NJ don’t even know where their next meal will come from, and to make it worse, a third of those households won’t qualify for government assistance because they make too much money.”

The Get REAL About Hunger campaign’s goal is to bring awareness to more residents in New Jersey to help educators and parents recognize the signs of hunger in children, help build empathy and understanding among school children and increase community support through food drives and monetary donations.

“The face of hunger has changed,” explains CFA Executive Director Patricia Espy, “hunger can happen to anyone at any time.  Many of the folks we see at CFA are hardworking parents, or retired seniors who worked hard their whole lives, but are struggling to afford medicine, medical bills, utility payments, car payments and all of the many expenses we have here in NJ.”

“Childhood hunger is all too real for many Bergen County children,’’ said Adele LaTourette, director, Hunger Free New Jersey, “We have made great strides in serving school breakfast and summer meals to more children, but tens of thousands of children still miss out on this critical nutrition. It takes a collective effort to reduce childhood hunger.