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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2021
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EDITOR’S DESK
Ending childhood hunger should be a priority
During the 2010 Super Bowl,
Snickers aired the fi rst of its iconic
“You’re not you when you’re hun-
gry” advertisements, featuring Betty
White standing in as a football player
who simply needed a snack to start
playing like a young man
instead of an old lady
again.
The ad campaign,
which has gone on for
more than a decade,
Jade
plays to a relatable truth: McDowell
Being hungry can make NEWS EDITOR
us grouchy and unable to
focus.
What the ad doesn’t delve into is
the even more insidious eff ects of
hunger that is chronic and long-last-
ing — the kind that comes from con-
sistently empty cupboards rather
than simply going too long without a
snack. For children, in particular, the
eff ects can stunt growth and interfere
with brain development. According
to Feeding America, children who
live in food insecure households are
more likely to repeat a grade in ele-
mentary school, experience develop-
mental delays, struggle with behav-
ioral problems and develop health
conditions, such as asthma.
It’s appalling, then, that the United
States Department of Agriculture
estimates that 16 million children in
the United States — about 1 in every
5 — live in “food insecure” house-
holds that are unable to consistently
access adequate nutritious food to
feed everyone in the home. That esti-
mate came out before the pandemic,
and experts agree the number has
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Bags of food await distribution at Highland Hills Elementary School in Hermiston in 2019. The
Agape House is still distributing the bags to students in need on weekends.
almost certainly grown.
This epidemic of childhood hun-
ger is not because there is not enough
food in the United States to feed
everyone. There is no drought or
plague of locusts that has wiped out
most of the country’s food supply.
We don’t lack the food. We don’t
lack the money. We don’t lack the
ability to ship food to anywhere in
the country. We simply haven’t made
ending childhood hunger a high
enough priority yet.
Organizations working to end
childhood hunger, such as No Kid
Hungry, say government programs
are an important key to decreasing
hunger. According to the federal gov-
ernment, in a typical month before
the pandemic, about 20 million chil-
dren received food through the
SNAP food stamp program. Children
are also served by WIC (short for
Women, Infants and Children) and
through free school meal and sum-
mer meal programs.
These benefi ts sometimes work
better than charitable organizations.
For example, grocery stores are usu-
ally open far more hours and off er
more fresh food than food banks,
making food stamps a better option
for people who are at work during
the hours the food bank is open. And
making sure children can get free
breakfast and lunch at school pro-
vides a steady, easily accessible
source of food.
On the other hand, private chari-
table eff orts can sometimes be supe-
rior, or fi ll in gaps left behind by
government programs. Such pro-
COLUMN
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dialing for dollars with the state
employment division is a trial
F
our hours, 3 minutes and 39
seconds — that’s how long I
was on the phone
recently with the State
of Oregon Employment
Department.
I totally understand
they are overwhelmed
with the number of
claims because of the
global pandemic. How- Tammy
ever, after more than a Malgesini
year, a system should be in
place to eliminate long hold times.
Last year, between May 22 and July
24, I attempted to call the employment
division on fi ve diff erent occasions.
And when I say that, I don’t mean I
dialed the number fi ve times. I tried to
connect numerous times for anywhere
from 30 minutes to 3 hours — exas-
perated each time, I fi nally opted to fi ll
out a form and mail it.
However, when I recently received
a letter directing me to call, I wasn’t
given the option to fi ll out a form. As
I prepared myself for a dialing mara-
thon, my husband sensed the tension
and jumped into action — topping off
my Pepsi and providing a bottle of
water.
I was pleasantly surprised that only
11 minutes passed when the busy sig-
nal stopped. Although, (note sarcasm)
there’s nothing more sincere than a
droning recorded voice apologizing in
advance for an extended wait time.
After 5 minutes of robo-voice sug-
gesting possible ways to resolve issues
online, I was faced with my fi rst choice:
Which option do I choose? After lis-
tening again, I whittled it down and
had a 50-50 chance of picking the
right one — unfortunately, Lady Luck
wasn’t on my side.
Thus, “Nightmare on 11th Street”
began with an estimated wait time
of 3 hours and 52 minutes. And if
that wasn’t enough, I was thrust into
a holding pattern accompanied by
sounds that in good conscience cannot
truly be called music.
According to a study in the Journal
of Applied Social Psychology, playing
pop music instead of instrumental “ele-
vator music,” aka Muzak, may reduce
a caller’s level of anger when some-
one fi nally answers. The Employment
Department might want to consider
its own Pandora playlist. Of course,
they would want to omit such tunes
as Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job
and Shove It,” Donna Summer’s “She
Works Hard for the Money” and Dolly
Parton’s “9 to 5.”
A few minutes shy of 2 hours, I
was fi nally greeted by a human voice.
After hitting a roadblock, the repre-
sentative said she needed to trans-
fer me to a claims specialist. And just
Printed on
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VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 15
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Kelly Schwirse | Multi-Media consultant • kschwirse@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838,
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Fire district deserves community
support
like that, I was catapulted back into
hold hell — but not before hearing the
robotic rigmarole about the call vol-
ume with an expected wait of 5 hours
and 5 minutes.
If it hadn’t been for John, who pro-
vided a Pepsi refi ll and a turkey pot
pie, I might have cracked at that point.
After nearly 2 more hours on hold, I
spoke to a human again.
I’m happy to report things didn’t
play out like “Nightmare on 11th
Street, Tammy’s Revenge.” I recog-
nize that the two employment depart-
ment representatives that I spoke to
aren’t responsible for their under-
staff ed situation and have no control
over the fl ood of calls.
Rather than just airing my com-
plaints, I off er some potential solutions
for the employment department woes:
• Hire more employees. I hear many
Oregonians are still out of work.
• When sending a letter telling peo-
ple to call, include the option number
they should choose so it’s not a guess-
ing game.
• At the very least, eliminate the
audio assault by changing the Muzak.
— —
Tammy Malgesini, the former Herm-
iston Herald community editor, enjoys
spending time with her husband and two
German shepherds, as well as entertain-
ing herself with random musings.
CORRECTIONS
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news,
advertising or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
• stop by our offi ces at 333 E. Main St.
• visit us online at: hermistonherald.com
grams can require a long and confus-
ing process to apply for, and as we
saw with the unemployment bene-
fi t debacle during the pandemic, the
money doesn’t always come when
it’s supposed to. But a local church
leader may be immediately aware of
a parishioner’s needs after a job loss
and able to provide a bag of groceries
the very same day it’s needed.
School lunch programs may feed
children during the weekday, but the
Agape House’s backpack program,
which sends a bag full of easy-to-eat
food home with the local school dis-
tricts’ neediest children on weekends,
helps prevent students from going to
bed hungry on a Saturday or Sunday.
While there are a number of won-
derful national organizations doing
good work, if you want to help I
would suggest donating to one of the
equally wonderful local eff orts that
tend to spend far less money on over-
head and advertising.
Local food banks, including Agape
House in Hermiston and the Board-
man Food Pantry, are good places to
start. Food donations are great, but
monetary donations usually provide
more impact because they allow the
organizations to purchase in bulk,
and sometimes at a discounted rate.
Farmers Ending Hunger, started
by Hermiston’s own Fred Ziari, is
another good option. By sponsoring
an acre or even just a row of crops,
you can help provide fresh produce
to area food banks.
Let’s not let any kids in our com-
munity go to bed hungry.
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as
soon as they are discovered. Incorrect information will be
corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on the Opinion page
will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in
the online versions of our stories.
Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com or
call (541) 564-4533 with issues about this policy or to report
errors.
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the
Hermiston Herald readers to express themselves on local,
state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer
letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
length and for content.
This letter is to support Measure 30-148, the
bond to increase funding for our fi re district,
Umatilla County Fire District #1. As a proud
Hermistonian, I gladly point out a few reasons
why our community should approve this bond
measure.
• Our fi refi ghters/EMTs risk their lives for
our community. It’s critical they have suit-
able equipment and training to keep them safe
and eff ective. Budget shortfalls directly impact
their safety. This bond will support those
needs.
• Our 24/7 emergency personnel need
updated and adequate housing accommoda-
tions, especially now that we’re represented by
outstanding female crew members!
• Our community needs up-to-date and reli-
able equipment. Our current emergency fl eet
is aging and rapidly accruing miles as our fi rst
responders meet our record call volumes. Cur-
rent budget shortfalls mean our district lead-
ers must choose vehicle readiness over train-
ing and equipment. This bond will ensure our
emergency vehicles and emergency crews are
ready when our community needs them.
• Our district wrote this bond in a way that
asks our community members to serve as a
steering committee to oversee the use of our
funds. Our fi re district leaders have been and
will continue to be accountable to our support.
I’ve toured all of our fi re district buildings.
I’ve seen the critical needs and cannot ade-
quately describe them in this short letter. I urge
you to support Measure 30-148 at the ballot
in May; our community depends on UCFD1
daily, and we should be there when our district
needs support from us.
Josh Burns
Hermiston
Letters must be original and signed by the writer or writers.
Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include
a telephone number so they can be reached for questions.
Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries. The
obituary can include small photos and, for veterans, a
fl ag symbol at no charge. Expanded death notices will be
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Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at
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funeral home or in person at the Hermiston Herald or East
Oregonian offi ces. For more information, call 541-966-0818 or
1-800-522-0255, x221.