In all corners of every community in Kentucky, families are struggling with food insecurity.

We are hopeful a recent rebranding of the Kentucky Food Banks program will also reinvigorate efforts to help battle hunger in our state.

To raise awareness of hunger, Gov. Matt Bevin has proclaimed February as Hunger Free Kentucky Month in Kentucky.

Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, Attorney General Andy Beshear, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, Auditor Mike Harmon and Treasurer Allison Ball spent Wednesday morning at the Capitol Rotunda rallying Kentuckians to join the fight against hunger.

The event also marked the rebranding of Kentucky Association of Food Banks to Feeding America.

Feeding Kentucky (formerly Kentucky Association of Food Banks) comprises of seven Feeding America food banks that reach all 120 counties of Kentucky and serve an estimated 1 in 7 of all Kentuckians annually, according to a news release. In 2018, more than 800 charitable feeding agencies such as pantries, soup kitchens and shelters partnered to distribute 64 million meals.

For more information, visit FeedingKy.org.

According to the Map the Meal Gap report, 1 in 6 Kentuckians is food-insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle. Hunger disproportionately impacts children; more than 1 in 5 of children in Kentucky struggle with hunger, the news release stated.

There were 4,890 food insecure people in Clark County in 2016, including 1,410 children, according to the report. Statewide, there were more than 685,000 people who were food insecure. Of those, only about 70 percent likely qualify for assistance programs.

In the U.S., 1 in 8 people are food insecure, but only about a fourth of them likely quality for most federal nutrition programs.

While food insecurity exists in all community in Kentucky, not all families that struggle with hunger qualify for government assistance.

Perhaps the essential element to battling hunger will be considering innovative solutions. And a huge component to the solution will be working closely with the agriculture community across the state.

Some of the initiatives noted and announced this week include:

— Every Kentucky taxpayer who receives an income tax refund may check a box on line 39e of their tax return to designate part of the refund to go to the KDA’s Farms to Food Banks trust fund. In 2018 state income taxpayers donated nearly $19,000 to the fund. An appropriation of $500,000/year in the state budget also supports the fund. In 2018, 350 Kentucky farmers from 64 counties provided over 3 million pounds of Kentucky-grown fruits and vegetables through Feeding Kentucky’s Farms to Food Banks program. That is the equivalent of filling half a plate full of fruits and vegetables for over 5 million meals.

— The Legal Food Frenzy campaign to raise resources for hunger relief. A collaborative effort among the Office of the Attorney General, Kentucky Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Office of the Secretary of State, the campaign raised the equivalent of 830,000 meals since 2017.

At the local level, we can each contribute to the fight against hunger as well by donating food and money to our local God’s pantry affiliate, Clark County Community Services. Additionally, many churches offer free meals to the homeless and hungry, donating your time or money to these causes can also be beneficial.

Family Resource and Youth Services centers at the local schools also facilitate food pantries and backpack programs for at-risk youth. Volunteering at these agencies or again, making donations of some type, will reach some of our community’s youngest food-insecure individuals.

One innovative approach is to plant a community garden or include an additional row or plot in your yard that you would donate to a shelter, church or pantry.

While no solution exists to eradicate hunger or food insecurity in our state, there are things we do on a large or small scale to alleviate the problem.