Tippecanoe Superior Court Judge Loretta Rush, in her 10th year of presiding over that county’s juvenile division, estimated the number of kids under 5 she sees living in poverty has risen by a third in the past few years.

She has also seen hunger affect a child’s mental health, school grades and whether or not they act out against others. Many kids, when they leave troubled families, will hoard food in their new foster homes.

“They’re not used to having food. They’re malnourished. They’re overly concerned about running out of food. You see that this is the environment that they came from,” Rush said.

The judge, when she speaks to church groups and other gatherings, urges audiences to volunteer for food pantries, soup kitchens and other services. She promotes the Backpack Program, which gives students a supply of food for weekends after they’ve received free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches at schools.

Still, she’s left bewildered by the need for such programs.

“The fact that we have childhood hunger in our country today is astonishing,” Rush said.