In today’s paper News-Herald Sports Columnist Joe DiRenzo takes a step back from his usual topic of recreational boating and focuses on hunger in the United States and a program that Chunky Soups is running to provide food for those that go without. The Chucky Click for Cans Program is fun, easy and last year resulted in 32,000 cans of soup being donated.

Besides the good corporate citizenship being demonstrated by Campbell’s, every New-Herald reader should focus on something much more significant – the number of people in the United States who go to bed hungry in this country, including children. The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia reminds web visitors that, &uot;nearly 13 million children in the U.S. suffer everyday from the debilitating effects of chronic hunger.&uot;

Thirteen million.

Locally, to combat this national challenge the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia has established a Kids Caf\u00E9. According to the Foodbank Web site, this is &uot;a national program founded by America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network to solve a nationwide problem of child hunger. Kids Cafe is a place where children receive a free, nutritious evening meal in a safe and supportive environment.&uot;

The same site reports that in the Suffolk area the Kids’ Caf\u00E9 is located at John F. Kennedy Middle School on E. Washington Street.

The Kids Caf\u00E9 program is wonderful and serves a critical need – but we can do more!

One of the great things about the readers of the News-Herald is the willingness to help. Our Christmas Fund, hurricanes and earthquakes relief, even helping the orphaned, you are always ready to step in and lend a hand. Today we ask for your assistance with feeding our own citizens especially children. In a country as great as ours, with liberty, justice and fairness the bedrock of our national consciousness thirteen million hungry children is not right.

Think about that number for a minute – we are sure you will come up with at least a dozen ways to help – right here in Suffolk. If none come to mind give the Foodbank a call: your neighbors and their children, who go to bed hungry, are counting on it.