Dare To Care: Child's Death On Thanksgiving Day Ignited Decades-Long Fight Against Hunger

[Sugar Cookie]

On Thanksgiving Day 1969, Courier Journal readers picked up their morning paper to learn a young child in our community died of malnutrition. Bobby Ellis was 9 years old and weighed just 30 pounds when police carried him through the doors of General Hospital.

The news echoed through Louisville homes, around Thanksgiving meals, and in the prayers of our congregations. “Unthinkable,” people would say, that a child in our community died of hunger. A child, a symbol of innocence and hope for the future, had been deprived of all he represented.

Kentuckiana decided this would not happen again. People came together from every faith, political party and zip code, calling on their community to “Dare to Care.”

Fifty-four years later, Dare to Care Food Bank works tirelessly to illuminate the darkness by empowering, informing, and feeding our neighbors in Kentuckiana. Still, the shadow of Bobby’s would-be future hangs heavy on us all.

The number of people living in food-insecure households in the United States grew drastically in 2022. In the U.S. 1 in 7 people, including 1 in 5 children live in food insecure households, according to USDA.

Dare to Care and our partners have witnessed this firsthand. Our community has seen a 30% increase in neighbors seeking food assistance in the past year as public benefits declined and food prices increased.

Acting as a community will help ensure our neighbors, our loved ones and all who face hunger have access to nutritious food.

Please do this where ever you may be

Entering the holiday season, you’ll have more opportunities to check in with family and friends. The underlying causes of food insecurity – unemployment, poverty and inconsistent access to food – are often difficult to address alone. Making a connection and sharing a resource can be an easy first step.

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Dare to Care: Child's death on Thanksgiving Day ignited decades-long fight against hunger

Dare to Care Food Bank started in 1969, sparked by the death of 9-year-old Bobby Ellis. Louisville's fight to end hunger continues today. You can help.

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