BIDDEFORD — Every day in Biddeford, there are people going to bed hungry.

Although the exact numbers aren’t known, the number of students in the Biddeford school district who qualify for free or reduced lunch is 55 percent, according to Assistant Superintendent of Schools Jeff Porter.

In addition, the food pantries in the area are busier than ever, say pantry volunteers, and the people using those services are often familiar faces.

Last year, Mayor Alan Casavant, who is a former Biddeford High School teacher, visited a local food pantry.

“I saw a lot or elderly people there and some former students,” he said.

That visit, as well as a visit to the Joyful Harvest Neighborhood Center on Main Street, had a profound effect on him, said Casavant.

Joyful Harvest provides after-school and summer programs for a number of children who come from low-income homes. Many don’t have enough to eat, according to the organization’s Executive Director Shay Stewart-Bouley.

Those visits “were a wake-up call that the dynamics of hunger had changed,” said Casavant.

As a result, “I had an epiphany that if we mobilized churches and other organization, maybe we could do something,” he said.

For a number of months, Casavant and others, not only from Biddeford, but also from Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, have been working together on coordinating a number of local activities for Hunger Awareness Week, which starts today with the 6th annual Run and Walk 5K Run and 2-Mile Walk for Homeless and Hungry People, in Kennebunk.

Other public events include: A musical performance at the Oak and Ax in Biddeford on Monday; a documentary on hunger on at Smitty’s Cinema in Biddeford on Tuesday; and on Thursday, a panel discussion on hunger at Biddeford High School.

In addition, sermons will focus on hunger awareness at many local churches this weekend.

The goal, said Casavant is to have public dialogue “to increase awareness and put that human face on hunger.”

“Hunger and poverty have to be destigmatized,” he said.

Often, people view poverty as a result of an individual’s lack of a work ethic, said Casavant, but “in this economy, people who do everything right still end up in a food line.”

The First Parish Congregational Church UCC is one of the area churches taking part in Hunger Awareness Week. The church provides food assistance both to members and non-members.

“Hunger is an issue in Saco as well as the tri-city area,” said the church’s Christian Education director, Kris Galasyn, in an email. “Many children do receive subsidized school lunches, many families do have someone who works full-time, but still can’t make ends meet and put food on the table.”

The work of her church, local food pantries and other groups that provide food to those who need it is important, she said, but only government action will provide real solutions, for instance by increasing the minimum wage.

With the current hourly rate of $7.50 in Maine, while the federal rate is $7.25, “no wonder so many families are having such a hard time putting food on the table and paying all the bills like rent, electric, oil, etc.,” she said.

In addition to adults, students from several area schools are holding their own hunger awareness activities. Students at Thornton Academy in Saco, the John F. Kennedy School in Biddeford and the Biddeford Intermediate School are organizing food drives.

And at Biddeford High School, students are participating in a number of events regarding hunger. They have been creating art work about the faces of hunger in art teacher Donna Power’s art class, researching facts about hunger, she said, and including that in their pieces.

The students’ creations are being displayed in the school along with posters with facts about hunger that will be posted on student lockers.

The National Honor Society will hold a student-run coffee house on Wednesday, the proceeds of which will go to local food pantries, and in English teacher Carolyn Gosselin’s theater class ”“ in conjunction with a video class ”“ students will create a music video on hunger.

The video will be a spoof of Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Eat It,” which was a parody of the Michael Jackson song “Beat It.”

Her students told her they had to make the issue fun in order to get the rest of the school to pay attention, said Gosselin. The video is to be a public service announcement to create awareness about the free breakfast and lunch summer programs for youth 18 and under, which will be offered at Biddeford schools and other locations.

The video will star Michael Jackson sound-alike James Ociti, a junior, and Kyle Kraus, a freshman. The premise is that Ociti is trying to convince Kraus to eat lunch at the summer food program at BHS.

On Tuesday, while videotaping the PSA, the song will be pumped throughout the school through the intercom system.

“We’re trying to bring this program to high schoolers,” said Bryannah Nolette, a junior.

There are “so many who can’t afford lunch and are so embarrassed,” said Elisa Wiseman, a senior.

“We’re using hunger week to reduce the stigma” surrounding hunger, said Emma James, a senior.

Because of embarrassment, hunger “is not really discussed,” said Nolette, and James agreed the hungry at BHS are “veiled.”

They figure hunger won’t be as much of an issue this summer if more students take advantage of the free meal programs. All students can take part, as no income qualifications are needed.

“Who doesn’t want a free meal if they can get it?” said Tom Laverriere, a senior.

If Hunger Awareness Week “is successful this year,” said Casavant, “maybe we could build  on it and have events throughout the area in different communities” next year.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or [email protected].