The Cupboard Is Bare

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

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.