Feed The Children

We've moved!

2009-03-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

We’ve moved! Please visit us at the official Feed The Children blog at blog.feedthechildren.org

Can we really make a difference when the need is so great?

2009-03-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

Being able to do so little in the face of today’s staggering need leaves me frustrated.

But when I’m asked, “Do you think you are making a dent in the hunger problem?” my answer is, “I don’t work on problems. I help people.” Jesus is my model. He did not heal every sick person, nor did He feed all the hungry. He did not set right every injustice or spend His every waking moment attempting to do those things. He slept, ate and took time to visit friends. He lived life like an ordinary person, and I believe He expects us do the same while showing compassion to those who come within the scope of our awareness.

That’s why you and I have to keep pressing forward. No matter how bleak the news is. No matter what new record we have broken for number of unemployed or how many homes are being foreclosed on. We must focus on helping PEOPLE. When a pastor calls me and says, “Larry, I need your help. Families in my church need food, and our cupboard is bare,” I must do my best to answer his plea. And every other cry for help we receive.

Thankfully, I have a great number of caring friends and a wonderful network of businesses and other agencies that are there to support the important work of Feed The Children. And while we may not be able to solve all the problems in this sour economy, we can continue to put life-changing food and essentials into the hand of as many PEOPLE as possible.

A Growing Crisis: The Newly Poor

2009-02-25T14:42:00.001-08:00

This past week I was handing out boxes of food and essentials at a Feed The Children food drop in Wilmington, Ohio, The weather was freezing. But that didn’t keep people away. The lines were long. You see, in this small town and in its surrounding areas, 8,500 people have been devastated by massive corporate layoffs.

As I looked out into the crowd, I saw how much things in our nation are changing. While their worried gazes and hungry stares were familiar, the people were different. They looked just like you and me, like they could have been my next door neighbor.

Sadly, this isn’t an isolated example. All across America, millions of once successful families are finding themselves on their knees, desperate for help. Their children just don’t understand. “Mommy why are we moving.” “Daddy why can’t you just go the store and buy more food? That’s what we used to do.”

Unlike those who were already living in poverty and used to asking for help when they need it, these “newly poor” are lost. They don’t know where to go or they are too ashamed to ask. And then a friend tells them about a local church that can help or a nearby food pantry that has changed its rules and now allows a family to come once a week for food and essentials. So they swallow their pride, and do what they never thought they would – ask for help.

One food pantry volunteer says, "These are people who never really had to ask for help before. They were once givers and now they’re having to ask for assistance."

Food pantries are doing the best they can to keep up with the rising demand, which has increased more than 30 percent in the past year. But they can’t do it alone. Every day, I’m bombarded with calls and emails asking for our help. And we’re doing our best too, sending out our trucks as fast as we can. But we need help too. The only way we can keep our trucks on the road through the support of our friends. In times of crisis like this, it’s more important than ever that we FEED THE CHILDREN.

Close to Home and Close to My Heart

2009-02-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, February 11, several tornadoes struck my home state of Oklahoma. The first round came in the afternoon, ripping through parts of Oklahoma City and nearby Edmond. But the worst twister came down that evening in the small town of Lone Grove. At least people nine people were killed and more suffered serious injuries. Several housing communities were completely destroyed.

I’m so thankful that Feed The Children’s facilities weren’t damaged in these storms because people in our community really need us right now. They’ve lost their homes, businesses or both. We must make sure these people know that someone cares and is willing to lend a helping hand. My heart aches for my friends and neighbors affected by these storms. But I’m also so proud of how we’re pulling together as a community to help one another.

Already, Feed The Children has sent two truckloads of food to the most devastated areas. But much remains to be done. I pray that more caring souls with join with us in this effort to help these storm victims rebuild their lives. To find out how you can help, visit our site.

Hope for Victims of Kentucky’s Ice Storm

2009-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Most of Kentucky was devastated by an ice storm last week. Ice enveloped roadways and took down trees, damaging homes and taking out power lines. The Kentucky governor is calling this storm the “biggest natural disaster” in their state’s modern history. The National Guard is going from door-to-door in the hardest hit areas. They’re putting green tape on the homes that have sufficient food, power, water and communications and red tape on the ones that don’t. I imagine they are using a lot of red tape.

As soon as I heard about this situation, we began organizing our disaster response team. Already we’ve deployed 7 trucks filled with approximately 70,000 snack/meal kits, bottled water and emergency essentials to this devastated area. But right now there are 300,000 people still without electricity. Some reports say it could be several weeks until everyone’s power is restored. And I know it will be months or even years before all the damage to homes and businesses will be complete.

That’s why we have to keep going strong. Even those who thought they were well prepared for a disaster may soon find themselves out of food and water.

I’m putting out a call for help from our caring friends and partners. Help us take care of our own. Visit our site to find out how you can help. And tell your friends and family too. In these already trying times, it’s so important to let people know that there’s someone who cares and will lend a helping hand.

Standing Together to Help Our Nation and Our World

2009-01-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

Like millions of others, I watched President Barack Obama give his inauguration speech this past Tuesday. In a time of such uncertainty, I wanted to hear his plans for our nation and our world. But as the president and founder of Feed The Children, I specifically wanted to know his plans for the hungry and suffering.

Here’s what he said, "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds."

Regardless of whether you voted for him or not, President Obama has pledged to stand beside you and I and help us reach the world's suffering children. While I’m grateful for his support, I know the government can only do so much. This is a big job and it will take every one of us pulling together to make a real, lasting difference.

As world economies tumble, more people than ever before are finding themselves at the end of their rope. Never before has the work of Feed The Children been more vital to families very survival. If our nation, let alone our world, is going to rally and overcome these dire times, our first step is to reach out and let people know we care. Who knows, someday one of the very children we help might one day be President, if just given the chance to survive and succeed.

Record Unemployment Rates Mean More Children Are at Risk

2009-01-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

The question people used to commonly ask their friends is, “How is your job?” Now, more often they’re asking, “Do you still have job?” Last week, the Labor Department announced the unemployment rate had jumped to 7.2 percent in December, a 16-year high. And this week it was reported that in the first week of January, 524,000 people filed for unemployment. That’s a half million more unemployed people IN ONE WEEK!

These days everyone knows of a friend or family member who’s lost their job. It’s truly heart wrenching. But what’s really upsetting is how this is affecting our nation’s children. They are the innocent victims of our sour economy.

Especially hard hit are families who were already barely struggling to get by. More and more I’m hearing about small cities becoming like ghost towns after the local factory closes its door. There’s no work to be found. Some desperate parents must travel 80-100 miles just to find a job. What doesn’t get eaten up in fuel costs is usually barely enough to scrape by. More and more they are turning to local food pantries to feed their children. And all too often, they are being turned away empty-handed because there’s just not enough food to meet the staggering need.

This year, we’re going to have to work harder than ever to reach out to struggling families and hard-hit communities with food and other essentials. Thankfully, we have faithful partners standing with us on the front lines . . . generous friends who believe like I do that no child should go hungry in America!

Amazed By Our Country’s Resolve

2009-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Recently we began asking people visiting our website to share their struggles. We want to hear how Americans are coping with recent economic pressures—a slowing economy, rising energy and the global food crisis. The responses we receive, and there are many, demonstrate just how tough things have gotten in our nation.

But what really surprises me is how many emails I get like this:

“Larry, even in these hard times, when I can, I put the dollars I can spare in the envelope and send them to Feed The Children. God is good, and even though times are hard for us, they are even harder for someone else. Luckily, my children are grown so I do not have to face hungry eyes.”

Just like many of us, this couple had to turn down the heat, clip coupons and reduce their spending recently. But they also remember that there are those that are much worse off – mothers and fathers struggling just to put food on the table. So even if they send just a dollar or two, they know that when they add that to the dollar or two of other caring Americans, it adds up and makes a life-changing difference.

It’s caring and compassion like this that will get us through these trying times and making us a stronger nation. After all, that’s the American way!

The New Year Will Be Full of Challenges

2008-12-31T09:37:00.000-08:00

We look upon the beginning of a new year as a chance for a fresh start. Full of resolutions to look better, act better and be better. I recently came across a poll that CBS did that gave some great tips on how to live a better life. They interviewed 100 people over 100 years old to ask them their tips for leading a happy life. Many of their answers were simple yet, profound: stay close to family and friends, laugh, be spiritual and look forward to each new day.

I know in these turbulent economic times, it can be hard to look forward to each new day. But staying positive is the only way to help our nation begin to heal. And while you and I can’t solve all the problems our nation is facing right now, but there’s something we can do. We can continue to reach out to hurting American families with nourishing food and essentials supplies, giving them a reason to have hope for tomorrow.

I’m proud of the work Feed The Children does each year. And in 2009, I know we’ll be able to reach more hungry little boys and girls than ever before — all thanks to our caring friends and partners. People like you who support our mission and believe in making tomorrow a better day for struggling American families.

2008 – A Turbulent Year in America

2008-12-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

It seems like every time I turn on the TV or read a news story, there’s another report on our flailing economy. In fact, MSNBC has a whole section of their site called Economy In Turmoil. These stories are full of statistics and analysis of the state of our country. But I don’t think in terms of numbers. I go by what I see.

I see the proud father having to come to a food bank for the first time in his life because he’s lost his job and his home. I see a single mother crying for help because she can no longer afford to feed her children. And I see more of this in America today than I have in the 30-years since I began Feed The Children.

But no matter how bad the news may be, I have hope. And that hope comes from the many supporters Feed The Children is blessed to have. These wonderful individuals, and even entire companies, rally with us when times are tough. They help us reach out to the hurting and hungry across our nation – and our world – with good food and real hope.

So while the nation is focusing on the high unemployment and foreclosure rates, I’m able to focus on another all-time high. This past year, Feed The Children shipped more than 135 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and families in all 50 states and in 32 foreign countries, supplementing almost 800,000 meals a day worldwide. And this was all made possible by caring people like you!

Making Miracles Happen

2008-12-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

Often a miracle is something that starts ordinary and becomes extraordinary. Take for instance the day I met a young boy named Jerry. It was 1979 in Haiti. I had just finished preaching at a local church when a boy came up to me and asked me for a nickel to buy a roll. For three cents more he could put butter on it. I told him he better get a drink to wash it down too and I gave him 20 cents. That was the only meal Jerry would have that day. After that meeting, Jerry’s plight haunted me. I thought of the surplus wheat in my home state of Oklahoma and how many rolls it would provide to hungry children like Jerry. And from there Feed The Children was born.

Until I was 38 years old, I preached to people, telling them how to live. But after I met Jerry, I was compelled to focus more energy on living what I preached.

What a blessing it was for me to meet Jerry that day. Just look at what Feed The Children has accomplished today, feeding thousands of hungry children every day abroad and right here in the U.S. Thirty years ago, I never imagined in my wildest dreams we’d be able to help so many. To me, that is a miracle.

This holiday season, we are making more miracles happen. Our goal is to put 175 trucks full of food on the road all across America by Christmas. With the support of kind friends, I believe we can do it. Just imagine the look of joy that will spread across a hungry child’s face when he sees a big box of food for his family. It’s the same expression I saw on Jerry’s face when I handed him that 20 cents.

Nothing short of miraculous.

The Cupboard Is Bare

2008-11-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

Every year, the New York Times runs a special Giving section in its newspaper just before the holiday season. Usually, this section focuses on all the good being done in the world by various charitable organizations. But this year, the focus was on the need. You see, in trying economic times like these, many people cut back their giving to charities like Feed The Children. But the irony is, we need that support now more than ever.

Every day more and more calls are pouring in for help. Directors of food pantries and shelters and even church pastors are pleading for us to send our trucks their way. In the past four months demand for food aid has risen 20 percent in areas with the healthiest economies and more than 40 percent in the areas with the weakest. Tragically, this means that the cupboard is bare before all the hungry can be fed. Caring volunteers are forced to turn away hungry families, telling them there’s no food left.

And it’s not just the unemployed who are looking for help. More and more we’re seeing working moms and dads struggling to make ends meets because their wages aren’t keeping up with the rising costs of living.

I just hope that those who are still blessed with a good job and a roof over their heads won’t forget about all those who need our help. During these trying times, it’s more important than ever to reach out to these hurting children and families with good food –and something to hope for!

A Long, Hard Road Ahead

2008-11-12T12:03:00.001-08:00

As a child, I remember my parents talking about their childhood. The hard times and their struggles. Hardships were plenty and went on for years. My father was just a young man when he went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps as a cook. He would send his paycheck home just to keep the farm from being foreclosed. Today, those memories come flooding back because our country is in turmoil. Words like recession, even depression, are on the minds of everyone.

And now our election day has just past. Now America is pinning their hopes on our President elect. He himself has already said that it is going to take time to change the economic climate in America and has stated that we have a long, hard road ahead.
Too many Americans have lost their homes, their jobs, their hope and their ability to feed their children. I pray for their sake that better days are to come. But rebuilding their lives, getting back what they’ve lost, will take time.

I predict that the next few years will be our busiest here at Feed The Children. However, we are busier today than we have ever been as calls are coming in from across the nation. Single parents, underpaid mothers and fathers are praying on their knees for food for their hungry boys and girls.

Homelessness in America

2008-10-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

There's a gripping article in the NY Times about the housing crisis in our nation and its effect on American families. Did you know that more than 1 million homes have been lost to foreclosures in the past two years? And banks are in the process of foreclosing on 1.5 million more! Many of those affected are hard-working middle class families, who wanted nothing more than the American dream when they purchased their home. But rising mortgage payments and higher costs of living took their toll on these families who were living paycheck to paycheck. Now, they've lost their homes and often their hope. Many of them can't even qualify to lease a home because of the damage the foreclosure has done to their credit Many are now homeless, relying on the kindness of friends and relatives for a place to stay. But when it's time to move on, then what?

One thing is clear, our nation has a long road to recovery ahead. And the work that we do at Feed The Children has become more crucial than ever.

Another Great Depression?

2008-10-15T06:39:00.001-07:00

Again today, I heard our current economic crisis compared with the Great Depression. After all, home foreclosures are at the highest rate in decades, and food and fuel prices have more than doubled in the past few years. It’s no wonder there’s fear it could happen again.

A lot of focus is on how bad things are on Wall Street. But I’m more concerned about how things are on Main Street. How is all this affecting the every day working man, the single mother? Well, I know one thing, getting food on the table is a challenge many Americans are finding harder to meet.

Welcome Home?

2008-09-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

People are finally able to return home after Hurricane Ike. But what are they returning to? Destroyed houses, unsanitary living conditions, and swarms of mosquitoes. No safe drinking water, reliable electricity, medical care or sewer service. They are being told to watch out for rats and snakes, and to get a tetanus shot. Nice homecoming. To those of us who weren’t affected, Hurricane Ike may feel like a distant memory. Especially now that the media has turned its focus to the crumbling economy and upcoming elections. But that doesn’t change the fact that this hurricane clobbered a 500-mile stretch of Texas and Louisiana coastline, devastated the barrier island of Galveston, and caused power outages for millions. And to make matters worse, these troubling economic times are taking their toll on Feed The Children and other aid organizations. Donations are down when the need is up. Still, we responded as quickly as possible to this disaster and have to replenish for others coming our way. I sent trucks with water, food and other supplies, and I plan to keep helping as they begin to rebuild. I just pray that the world has not forgotten about these people.

When Crops Fail and Livestock Starve …

2008-09-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

I wonder how Ricovia is doing. He’s a little boy I met out in the “bush” as they call it, during my last trip to Kenya. These rural areas, where crops have failed and livestock are starving to death, are probably the hardest hit by the famine that is now gripping this nation. As we were packing up to leave after distributing emergency food and supplies to his village, Ricovia’s grandmother walked up to our truck and placed her grandson in the back. “You must take him,” she told me through her tears. “He will die if he stays here.” Ricovia is 10 years old, but looked to me to be about the size of a 5-year-old. Chronic malnourishment had left him bone thin and stunted his growth. My heart went out to this child and his desperate grandmother. So, we agreed to take Ricovia back to one of our children’s centers near Nairobi.

We left Ricovia in the care of our wonderful staff. Now, for the first time in his life, Ricovia has eaten his fill, played with a toy and slept in a warm bed all with the comfort of knowing he’ll wake up to a brighter tomorrow.
I’m so glad we were able to help this little boy. I pray that he will grow up strong and healthy, and will never again have to feel the stinging pangs of hunger.