A report shows over 80,500 children and nearly 11,000 seniors are in need. A landmark study released today by the East Texas Food Bank and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, reports that more than 183,000 East Texans, including 80,520 children, receive emergency food each year through the East Texas Food Bank and their partner agencies. The findings represent a 90 percent increase since reported in Hunger in America 2006.

The Hunger in America 2010 is the first research study to capture the significant connection between the recent economic downturn and an increased need for emergency food assistance. The number of children and adults in need of food as a result of experiencing food insecurity has significantly increased. In the East Texas Food Bank’s 26 county area approximately 428,000 East Texans are at risk of hunger, that’s 1 in 4 children, 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 7 seniors.

An estimated 27,500 people receive emergency food assistance each week from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other agency served by the East Texas Food Bank. From February through June 2009, the East Texas Food Bank conducted face to face interviews with 344 people seeking emergency food at food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs, as well as interviews with 177 agencies that provide food assistance