你如何帮助没有钱买学习用品的孩子

你如何帮助没有钱买学习用品的孩子

Going back to school can be scary for kids. There's peer pressure, homework and tests. But 15 million children living in extreme poverty in the US face far more basic fears -- not having the supplies to learn or not knowing where they'll get their next meal, especially on weekends. Here's what's being done and how you can help.

对孩子们来说，重返校园可能是可怕的。来自同辈的压力、家庭作业和考试。但在美国，1500万生活在极度贫困中的儿童面临着更为基本的恐惧——没有学习的必需品，或者不知道下一顿饭在哪里吃，尤其是在周末。以下是我们正在做的事情，以及你可以如何提供帮助。

The burden of "back to school" lists

“重返校园”清单的负担

When a teacher hands out a list for parents of basic school supplies, it's a real problem for at least one in five children in the US who live below the federally defined poverty line.

当老师为家长们分发基本用品清单时，对于生活在联邦定义的贫困线以下的美国至少五分之一的孩子来说，这是一个真正的问题。

"We know most, if not all of (those children), go to school without some or all of the supplies," says Dave Smith, executive director of the Kids in Need Foundation.

“我们知道，即使不是所有的孩子，也有大部分孩子上学时没有一些或所有的用品，”贫困儿童基金会(Kids in Need Foundation)执行董事戴夫•史密斯说。

In many districts, Smith says, teachers don't even publish a list because they know parents can't afford the items.

史密斯说，在许多地区，老师们甚至不公布清单，因为他们知道家长买不起这些东西。

How you can help with school supplies of children

你如何帮助孩子们的学习用品

Kids in Need Foundation has been trying to remedy this problem for 24 years. The nonprofit provides free supplies to teachers through "resource centers" that look like small office-supply stores. Teachers receive a number of points . Resource centers are in 43 big cities, including New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.

24年来，“贫困儿童基金会”一直在试图解决这个问题。这个非营利组织通过“资源中心”向教师提供免费用品，这些“资源中心”看起来就像小型办公用品商店。教师们可以得到一些积分。资源中心分布在43个大城市，包括纽约、迈阿密、亚特兰大、芝加哥和俄勒冈州的波特兰。

The supplies take the burden off low-income families and the teachers who serve them.

这些用品减轻了低收入家庭和为他们服务的教师的负担。

Venturi has been shopping twice annually at the Minneapolis resource center for years. She gets some $300 worth of supplies.

You can donate supplies or cash to that program or you can volunteer at a resource center.

你可以向该项目捐赠用品或现金，也可以在资源中心做志愿者。

How you can help with food supplies of children

你如何帮助孩子们的食物供应

Those same children whose families can't afford school supplies are often also struggling with hunger. Federal school lunch programs provide free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch only during the school week. The weekend is another story.

那些家庭负担不起学习用品的孩子也经常与饥饿作斗争。联邦学校午餐计划只在学校周内提供免费或减价的早餐和午餐。周末又是另一回事了。

"It's about a 65-hour gap that these children have very little or nothing to eat in a lot of cases," says Nikki Grizzle .

“在很多情况下，这些孩子有大约65个小时的空档，他们几乎没有东西吃，或者根本没有东西吃，”尼基·格雷斯(Nikki Grizzle)说。

Every year, teachers see children come back from the summer desperate for access to the school cafeteria, says Grizzle.

格雷斯说，每年，老师都会看到孩子们从暑假回来，拼命想要进入学校的自助餐厅。

"Can you imagine being a small child trying to learn, retain and sit still in a chair when really think about is the hunger in your stomach?"

“你能想象一个小孩子试图学习，在椅子上保持久坐，而实际想的是肚子里的饥饿吗?”

Last year the program fed 87,000 students in 47 states, and it's looking to grow.

去年，该项目为47个州的8.7万名学生提供了食物，而且还在不断增长。

"We can start a Blessings program for as little as $130 that will feed one child every weekend for the entire school year."

“我们可以启动一个祝福计划，只要130美元，就可以养活一个孩子的整个学年的每个周末。”

"Understand this is a problem in everyone's community," says Grizzle. "Even the most affluent communities in the US have a need."

“要明白这是每个人的社区都存在的问题，”格雷斯说。“即使是美国最富裕的社区也有需求。”