Far more people are going hungry in Bermuda than at first thought, including seniors and schoolchildren.

In fact, according to the Eliza Doolittle Society?s Margaret Vaucrosson (pictured above), the situation is so bad that at least six churches currently provide both breakfast and lunch for hungry students in schools across the Island.

?We were amazed,? she said. ?It was a definite indication that something very, very urgently needed to be done.?

The information came to light when the Society conducted a ?food survey? to outline and define the extent of the problem of hunger in Bermuda.

Their findings have led the charity to begin the process of changing into a limited liability company, giving them stronger ground to stand on when attempting to meet their target this year of creating a ?food chain? ? a co-ordinated Island-wide effort to begin providing food for the hungry.

?We were very curious, because there are so many people hanging around and begging for food,? Ms Vaucrosson said. ?However there is just nowhere you can get the statistics. People are giving you guesstimates.

?So we put down everything we knew on paper. We did a survey on who is feeding, and who they were feeding.?

What came out, she said, is that organisations like the Salvation Army and the Seventh Day Adventist Church are feeding people on a daily basis, including schoolchildren. About 200 seniors are serviced by Meals on Wheels three times a week.

Most of the food donations are in the Hamilton area, with some small organisation in the East End, and virtually no co-ordination in the West End.

?It was our opinion that something needed to be done,? Ms Vaucrosson said.

Using calculations from a luncheon the Society organised to feed some of the Island?s needy at the Anglican Cathedral, Ms Vaucrosson said they estimated the cost of providing lunch for 50 was about $450.

That covered a lunch of stew and vegetables, macaroni and cheese, rice, a hot roll and butter, and banana bread, as well as soup and a sandwich for people to take home with them later, as well as plastic utensils, she said. ?And it didn?t actually cost us that much because of the many donations we had.

?But it did give us an idea of what it would take to do something across the Island... Three centres, 50 meals a day, that?s a budget of about half a million on an annual basis.?

The ?food chain? would not interfere with organisations like the Salvation Army which are already in existence, she said, but work with them to co-ordinate feeding.

All those at the Society are volunteers, she said, and the organisation has no offices ? meaning that everything they take in goes towards their projects.

The Society has bigger plans for the future, including emergency shelters and housing, she said. For this year, however, the food chain is the target to meet. ?It needs to get going right now.

?Government can?t do it all, the Salvation Army can?t do it all. And they shouldn?t be expected to do so. But people have to know where to give their help.

?It?s taken us three years to find out what?s going on out there... We do feel the time has come for this.?

Those interested in volunteering at or working with the Eliza Doolittle Society can contact Ms Vaucrosson on 234-4388, or the Society at P.O. Box 2216, Hamilton, HMJX.