The New Year Will Be Full of Challenges

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

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

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

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.

Homelessness in America

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?

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.