Being hungry for most of us means reaching into the fridge and grabbing something to snack on, or going to the grocery store to replenish the cupboards.

That may be the reality for most of us living here in Butler County. But for one out of every 10 of our neighbors, snacking is more of a luxury than a reality.

A county profile compiled by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank estimates that 19,280 of Butler County’s 187,100 residents face food insecurity on a daily basis. Food insecurity as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.

If you’re a numbers person, that means 10 percent of our population. Here’s another way to think about it. Think about 10 people you know — 10 friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, people you do spin class with every week. Now imagine one of them going home to no dinner or waking the next day to no breakfast or — worse yet — worrying about whether their children board the bus hungry the next day.

It’s a bit disconcerting when you put a face to that statistic. And yet, it’s the cold, hard reality that nearly 20,000 people in this county face each and every day. Even more troubling — that number represents the overall population. The same county profile also looked at just children and youths who face food insecurity in Butler County.

One in six.

Every morning, one in six young people board buses bound for schools throughout this county having not eaten a balanced breakfast. Those same one in six young people head home every night wondering about whether there will be dinner on the table. They might get a quick bite to eat at school thanks to free breakfast or lunch programs. Unfortunately, some students also might decline because they don’t want the stigma of being “that kid” in class who gets free or reduced anything.

These same young people go to bed with hunger pangs, awake with growling tummies and are expected to make it through an entire school day concentrating on math problems and grammar instead of the low rumble in their midsection. More and more research is linking lower academic performance to food insecurity issues among students. It’s hard to believe that this is actually something requiring data sets and longitudinal studies.

Doesn’t anyone remember the famous Snickers Superbowl commercial with Betty White?

Teachers and administrators in schools throughout our county already know the score. For many of them, food insecurity is but one of a host of issues children and teens carry to school in their backpacks.

In an effort to ensure young people and their families have enough to eat, several districts started weekend backpack programs to help struggling families feed their hungry children. We applaud these efforts and encourage the community to help schools do more. Donate money for supplies. Hold a canned food drive.

Food insecurity isn’t one of those daily challenges that is easily recognizable. But at least one out of every six of your child’s classmates doesn’t just recognize it, they live it.

Just a little food for thought.