A pair of high-profile Auburn alumni have teamed up to bring more attention to a pressing issue in Lee County and the entire state of Alabama--child hunger.
Professional golfer Jason Dufner, along with his wife, Amanda, met with Alabama Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey Friday, July 26, to discuss their efforts to address child hunger in the local area.
The three were joined by Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and several representatives from the University's Hunger Solution Institute at the Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Opelika, which prepares food every day for more than 500 children in Lee County.
The Dufners and Ivey toured Greater Peace's facilities and joined other workers in preparing and serving lunch at the church's Summer Enrichment Program for children.
"For us to come down here and just provide information and get the awareness out there, I think that's the biggest thing," Jason said. "All these programs have done fantastic things to help feed children, but we need to make sure every child in Lee County and every child in the other counties in Alabama know about these programs."
The Dufners have partnered with the University in their Blessings in a Backpack Program, which provides food on the weekends for elementary and middle school children.
The Dufners pledged funding for three years of the program at Yarbrough Elementary School in Auburn and Carver Primary School in Opelika, but their involvement in the program goes beyond simply providing the monetary support.
Even with the busyness of life on the PGA Tour, both have taken time to have direct involvement with Blessings in a Backpack.
"The idea of children going hungry in our own backyard is unacceptable to Jason and me, just as it is to Lt. Gov. Ivey, the people of the Auburn community, and Lee County," Amanda said. "Through the Hunger Solutions Institute, we are working together to help address this problem for our children and give them the best chance to succeed in both the classroom and their physical activities with proper nourishment."
Ivey is the spokesperson for the Hunger Solutions Institute's "End Child Hunger in Alabama" campaign. The goal of the campaign is to move Alabama into the top 25 percent of states with the highest degree of child food security by 2020.
"I appreciate Jason and Amanda joining me in this effort to bring awareness to child hunger," Ivey said. "Most people do not realize that children in our own communities go hungry, so anything we can do to highlight the issue helps in the overall fight to end child hunger."
According to statistics from the Alabama Poverty Project, 21 percent of children living in Lee County are "food insecure," meaning they lack access at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life.
"This is a rather important, serious issue of child insecurity and food issues throughout the state," Ivey said. "In Lee County, 21 percent of our children have food insecurity issues. What does that mean? That means they don't know if they're going to get a next meal or where it's coming from."
Through programs like the ones at Greater Peace and Blessings in a Backpack, child hunger can be decreased in Lee County as Alabama pushes towards its goal of becoming a model state for the entire country.
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