For some children, the only time they eat is when they go to school.
LaDarius Price, a youth pastor, said that’s just one of the challenges for Black and brown families in Chattanooga that were highlighted by the pandemic that struck five years ago this month, hitting such communities harder.
Many Black and brown kids sat at home hungry while school was out from March 2020 to May of that year, said Price, who worked at the time as the community director for Cempa Community Care.
Feeling God called him to serve, Price wondered how to help, and Cempa allowed him to take his outreach budget to provide food and other needs for them. Price said it’s difficult for families to access what they need because of barriers still existing in 2025, some of which were highlighted by the pandemic.