LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nearly 100 people were packed inside the Byck Elementary School gymnasium on Sunday to remember a former student, whose death more than 50 years ago, still fuels a community spirit to give back.
Dare to Care and Interfaith Paths to Peace held a candlelight vigil, remembering the life of Bobby Ellis, a Louisville boy who died on Thanksgiving Eve in 1969 from malnutrition.
"It's important for us to do this to help the community to never forget what took place in 1969," Vincent James, CEO and president of Dare to Care, said. "We are continuing to commemorate [Ellis's death] every year. And it's important because it really grounds us in our work."
Born out of the nine-year-old's death was a movement in Louisville, James said, to fight hunger in the community and ensure what happened to Ellis never happens again.
"What really gets me is the fact [Bobby] died from something that he didn't have to die from--that was absolutely preventable," James said. "When I think about [Bobby's] life, I think about his story. It just reinvigorates me to fight this fight: the good fight."
In recent years, James said Dare to Care has seen demand for food skyrocket about 30%, reaching families never touched by food insecurity before.
"It's like the perfect storm," he said. "[It's] caused families that were not even experiencing this during the pandemic, [to] experiencing it."
James said much of the increase is due to the loss of pandemic safety net programs, like child tax credits, coupled with a somewhat stagnant, yet, still high inflation rate.
In a typical year, Dare to Care will spend about $1 million on food and items not donated by the community, James said, but this year the group will have spent $2.5 million on those items by the end of December.
The most recent numbers, from 2021, show 12.9% of people living in Louisville experienced food insecurity, including nearly 1 in 5 children, according to the Greater Louisville Project.
Each Thanksgiving season, Dare to Care and Interfaith Paths to Peace hosts the community gathering for reflection and remembrance.
Among those in attendance were Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
"For many of us, [hunger] is just so beyond understanding, but we need to do our best to try to understand," Greenberg said. "It's an honor to be here to continue to partner with anyone who is working [to ensure] no one in our community goes hungry."
"Thanksgiving is a great time to ask the question does our neighbor have enough to eat?" Jud Hedrix, executive director of Interfaith Paths to Peace, said. "I always walk away with a sense of hope, like, 'yes, we can do this."
According to the Dare to Care website, for every $1 donated, it is able to provide three meals to children and families, across the 13 Kentuckiana counties it operates in.
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