The cost of raising a family is higher than ever before.  The Consumer Expenditure Survey produced by the United States Department of Agriculture states that the average cost of raising a child is $12,980 per year.   In 2018, 19% of all Kentuckians lived in poverty.   According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 25% of all children in Kentucky lived in poor families in 2016.  There are many organizations and programs available to assist families in financial crisis, however most young families are unaware of those resources.

The Clinton County Extension Office Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Educational Program (SNAP-Ed) Assistant is working to change that. The SNAP-ED assistant partnered with the Lake Cumberland Early Head Start Program of Albany to help connect food resources to the early Head Start families.  The SNAP-ED assistant contacted the local commodities distribution program and Feeding America to help provide monthly food boxes to 17 different families.   Each month, 17 food boxes will be prepared for the families and will be picked up by the staff of the Head Start program.  The food boxes will then be sent home with the families, where 92 individuals will benefit from having extra food on their table.

Commodity distribution occurs during the morning hours on a weekday. For these Head Start families, those hours are difficult because they are trying to work to help make ends meet while their kids are in school. This food delivery system allows them access to extra food and helps reduce some strain on the family by helping them to meet a basic need.  Connecting those resources to low income families is a major role of the SNAP-ED Assistant.  One mother said, “There was no way I could work and get commodities. I am so glad someone was looking out for us and cared enough to help.”