Surplus? Not really

“We don’t have a surplus when we have hungry children.”

That’s a quote from Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas director of Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families, at a roundtable discussion last week in Berryville.

It seems like such a simple statement, yet it carries a profound weight.

Kellams was referring, of course, to the state of Arkansas’ $1 billion-plus “surplus,” the use of which has been the subject of great debate among citizens and lawmakers. She was also referring to the poverty and child hunger that affects so many people in our state, even as many of us seem to turn a blind eye to others’ suffering.

A fairly large contingent of folks turned out for the discussion led by Kellams on a Tuesday night at Carroll Electric’s Community Room. After some introductory remarks by Kellams, the group broke into smaller discussion groups to talk about the challenges faced by youth and families in Arkansas.

The discussion at my table centered around affordable childcare and access to preschool education, along with the lack of affordable housing in Carroll County, among other topics. A key theme was the idea that while the poorest families qualify for public assistance and the wealthiest families don’t need help, families who fall in between those income brackets often struggle to meet their children’s basic needs without having access to any form of significant help.

Poverty is an issue that likely affects far more Carroll County families than most of us realize. I was surprised, for instance, to learn that 74 percent of students in Carroll County public schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. According to the information Kellams presented, one in five children in Carroll County lives in poverty. The percentage is even greater for children under 5, where the poverty rate is one in four.

AACF doesn’t offer direct assistance to children or families. Instead, the organization works to influence changes in policy that will benefit those who need help.

If you’re reading this column and wonder what you can do to make a difference, I’d like to offer some suggestions that should be easy to implement.

First, pay attention to what’s going on in our community. It can be too easy sometimes to focus on our own day-to-day needs and forget that others are hurting. Second, talk to your elected officials. Let them know how you feel about issues related to children and families. Third, go to the polls and vote. Vote for candidates who share your beliefs and values. It’s the only way that those beliefs and values are going to be reflected in the way our state chooses to use the tax dollars it collects from all of us.

Another thing Kellams said at last week’s meeting also stuck with me. Her job used to be an easy sell, she said. Who doesn’t want to help children and families? More recently, though, she’s encountered more resistance. More “nastiness,” she said, that’s likely connected to the current political climate.

I would like to encourage everyone who reads this column to think about that for just a moment. Think about the children in our community and our state for whom hunger and poverty are very real issues. Think about your neighbors, no matter what you think of them.

Pay attention. Talk to your elected officials. Vote. But above all, please be kind.

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Scott Loftis is managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is SLoftis@cherryroad. com.