How were your meals today?

For most of us, our biggest hunger problem is deciding whether or not to drive to Taco Bell for a fourth meal. After all, this is Iowa State, not the inner city.

But hunger is something families in Story County are dealing with.

272 of them, at least.

According to Lindsay Cook of Mid-Iowa Community Action, that’s how many families in Story County needed to rely on the food provided by MICA food pantries in 2007.

Maybe you’ve felt the pinch of the economic downturn, maybe you haven’t. The pantry certainly has.

It recently changed its policy from allowing families to get food every two months, to every three months, Cook said. The change, she said, is a result of an increase in number of families seeking food aid.

It’s September, and for the shelves of the pantry, it’s the barest time of the year.

So help us do something about it.

The Iowa State Daily’s sixth annual Stuff the Bus food drive is Friday and Saturday, and we need your help to provide food for MICA.

Last year Stuff the Bus, with the help of more than 150 volunteers from the Daily and community, filled four CyRide buses with food and raised almost $3,100, which was donated to MICA. That donation, the largest the pantry receives each year, lasted until February, Cook said.

But with the increased need due to the economic slump, we’re adding a location at the Super Wal-Mart and attempting to stuff a fifth bus.

With money tight as it is for students these days, a donation may be tough. But here’s a challenge. Buy a case of beer this weekend, donate a can of food. The CyRide buses will be parked outside both Hy-Vee locations, Cub Foods, Fareway and Super Wal-Mart, making it even easier for you to drop off a can after your weekend beer-run.

Cans of food can go for under a dollar, and the families that need the shelter for food need your help.

So when you get that 1 a.m. craving for a 79-cent taco, ask yourself — how did you help this weekend?