Some children from the Quad Cities will help millions of American learn about poverty. They're featured in the latest edition of Frontline, the public-tv documentary series, in "Poor Kids" to be shown Tuesday night.
Filmaker Jezza Neumann spent several months earlier this year with the children, ages 9 to 14, and their families. And they tell the story with no narrator and no "experts," just the kids in their own words.
Neumann says it's important to remember the Quad Cities is where I-80 crosses the Mississippi River - the heart of America.
"You're where all the food is grown yet rather ironically people are struggling to eat. That' s the story most Americans don' hear. You hear about Detroit and you hear about the inner cities, but you don't really year about middle America. You just assume it's all okay and what I discovered is that it wasn't."
And he hopes his documentary puts a human face on all the statistics about poverty in this country.
Locations include Eagle Ridge elementary school in Silvis, River Bend Food Bank in Moline, and the Salvation Army in Davenport.
"Poor Kids" will premier Tuesday night on Frontline on many public tv stations - but it won't be on WQPT, the Quad Cities pbs station, until December 5th.