Number of homeless Cleveland students increasing

CLEVELAND -- On the heels of a government report that the number of hungry children is increasing, we learn that the number of homeless students in the Cleveland School District is also rising.

There are 1,765 homeless students in Cleveland classrooms, compared to last year at this time when there were 1,526.

"It is only November, and we expect those numbers to go up," says Marcia Zashin, Director of Project ACT. Project ACT works with homeless students in the Cleveland Schools.

The Cleveland Foodbank has also increased the number of Friday backpacks delivered to children, who might otherwise not have enough food to eat over the weekend.

They have increased their school sites helping Project ACT students this year to 22, an increase of five.

"It is so gratifying to see the smiles on the children's faces when they receive their backpacks of food," says Cleveland Foodbank Executive Director Anne Goodman.

A recent USDA report found that about 1 million children in the United States go to bed hungry.