By Brie Engelken-Parks

It seems that everywhere you go these days you see HELP WANTED signs but that doesn’t mean people are doing just fine and don’t still need support –

Underemployment is a very real thing right now.
For this year’s Little Black Dress Imitative, I’m doing the #fooddessertchallenge where I has caused me to step back and evaluate how much items really cost.

A food desert is defined as an urban area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. In Shawnee County, there are currently nine census tracts that are defined as “food deserts” according to the Shawnee County Community Health Improvement Plan from 2019.

The Food Desert Challenge rules (with some tweaks):

$5/day for all meals
All groceries and necessities must come from a convenience store the same location because many impacted by food insecurity also live in a food dessert.
Cannot use anything I had prior to this week
I’m allowed to indulge in free offerings (free food at work, etc.) because this is often what gets many by each week!

If you make $10/hr, or roughly $20,000/yr, and work 40 hours a week your take home pay each month is roughly $865/mo

A 2 bedroom apartment in Kansas is an average of $750/mo

Utilities would be roughly $150 on average

And already your monthly income is gone. And that’s with a job!

The Junior League of Topeka’s Capital Impact Leadership Summit & Immediate Impact Projects help lift those impacted up and work to stop the cycle. YOU CAN HELP!

TO DONATE: https://www.gofundme.com/f/brie-parks-2021-LBDI-campaign