Have you ever felt like you are ready to EXPLODE inside from the energy you have swirling around? The desire to create something SO BIG, so monumental; something that will manifest into a change for the better? I am there, inside of it right now and having a really hard time focusing this energy. Why are there still hungry people in our world yet our government has silos of foodstuff wasting away… or the government is so busy policing whether or not the Hawaiian people can prepare Taro in their own traditional way that their poorest are going without a decent meal. Food may feed our bodies… but it is the people who feed our souls. Don’t let another person go hungry if you are able to help.
1 out of 6 children worry where their next meal is coming from. That is more than 12 million children in America ALONE.
I don’t know who to talk to, how to make it happen, who will help me, can it be done? I want to help in the fight against people going HUNGRY. NO ONE in our world should ever feel that gnawing pit of hunger in their belly. NO ONE should ever be fed substandard trash food because they haven’t the pennies to purchase. I vacillate between ANGER and SADNESS. Anger at the state of affairs that have caused us to be here, with hungry families roaming our own, rich nation. Sadness that my abilities to fix it and my mothering instinct to FEED THE WORLD isn’t enough… #NoKidHungry EVER…
I could rant on and on about this – I could tell you that, as the tears stream down my face, knowing that as I struggle to decide if we’ll have cheesy omelettes filled with fresh, local, organic vegetables or a potato zucchini frittata for breakfast this Tuesday morning, there are more children than I can even imagine going without a single thing for their wee, growing bellies. And I cannot figure out if I am crying because I feel so damn lucky that our family is, for now, in the group of HAVES, that I can’t stop the flow or if it because I know that this single call out to my readers will not fill their bellies today and today there is a hungry child with its mother that who’s face mirrors my own anxiety – but the difference is that my children are eating today while her’s may not be.
Please help. Tell me what YOU are doing to help fight hunger in our world. All you have to do is open your browser, google ‘HUNGER, WORLD” – there are many agencies out there ready to help and all you need to do is jump in. Will you commit and HELP ME? I cannot do it alone… Do you ‘Twitter’? Follow me @mControl And let’s jump on the #NoKidHungry hashtag with @sexythinker and let’s #StampOutHunger together!
Let’s find ways to connect locally, within our own cities, to hungry people and get them fed. I can’t do it alone – BUT ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE IF WE JOIN TOGETHER. We can END this. Let’s twEAT Out To End Hunger!
Over 1.3 million people in 2007, that’s like, one in six New Yorkers, that cannot afford enough food, with queues at soup kitchens just getting longer! This was a mere 3 year ago and NOTHING is getting better. Instead, it is getting worse!
The US Department of Agriculture says 12.6 million households nationwide, or more than 30 million people – 10% of the population – did not have enough food at some point in 2006.
Haven’t seen the our media mentioning this horrible state of affairs? Why do I have to visit BBC to read about this problem in our backyard? Is it because our government is too embarrassed for those of us who CAN eat to learn the truth? The poverty level in this country is increasing at an alarming rate. People are struggling to stay afloat economically. Health care, rising prices of everything, including food, are a direct result of the administration obsession with waging wars for profit. Who’s profit? The American people were the envy of the world at one time. Now, the middle class is disappearing, there are now the wealthy and then there are those sliding into poverty, losing their homes, their health, and some, their families.
Broken vets are returning to no home, shoddy VA support, and a government that wants its money back from it’s casualties. Recently revealed homeless veterans make up a large part of the Nouveau Poor. They are akin to the displaced persons from World War II. Bless. And that after doing something they hoped would protect our own, from the EVIL MONSTERS… That we needed them to go into someone else’s country and decimate it in the name of ‘rebuilding’ and ‘democracy’. I NEVER received a ballot asking if I was ‘FOR’ the war or not. Why I wonder? Those that we put into office to represent ME (WE the people, of which I am – I AM WE THE PEOPLE), the crooks and liars, we trusted to do right by us, have had their way with us without remorse. Our United states population is polarizing into a serious divide of ‘haves and have-nots’. The profiteers refuse to put their security at risk by taking responsibility for their actions. Politicians are totally insulated from the consequences of words they put into all of those bills, amendments or laws. Damn if it doesn’t always look good on paper doesn’t it? But the empty promises are NEVER worth the paper they are written on. You know that the historians will tell you this condition is a classic set up for major dissent. Dissent can easily dissolve into revolution; a total disconnect. And we all know that a population that feels helpless, and without voice, is a breeding ground for revolution. And I would like to begin this revolution here – I want a revolution AGAINST any person being hungry. Will you help me?
“There are, we believe, three main causes of poverty in the United States: poverty in the world; the operation of the political and economic system in the United States which has tended to keep people from poor families poor, and actual physical mental and behavioral issues among some people who are poor.” World Hunger Org.
Hunger in America: Key Findings
The 37 million Americans served annually by Feeding America include nearly 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
Each week, approximately 5.7 million people receive emergency food assistance from an agency served by a Feeding America member. This is a 27percent increase over numbers reported in Hunger in America 2006, which reported that 4.5 million people were served each week.
These numbers are based on surveys conducted at emergency feeding centers, such as soup kitchens and food pantries, but do not factor in many individuals also served at non-emergency locations, such as Kids Cafe programs and senior centers.
Client Households
-
76 percent (10 million) of client households served are food insecure, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal.
36 percent of these client households are experiencing food insecurity with hunger, meaning they are sometimes completely without a source of food.
79 percent (11 million) of households with children served are also food insecure.
Of the 37 million people the Feeding America network serves:
70 percent of households have incomes below the federal poverty line.
The average monthly income for client households is $940.
36 percent of households have one or more adults who is working.
10 percent of client households are homeless.
Tough Choices
Many of the client households served by Feeding America food banks report that their household incomes are inadequate to cover their basic household expenses.
-
46 percent of client households served report having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food.
39 percent of client households said they had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food.
34 percent of client households report having to choose between paying for medical bills and food.
35 percent of client households must choose between transportation and food.
One in four client households (24 percent) do not have health insurance and nearly half of our adult clients report that they have unpaid medical and hospital bills.
Thirty percent of households report having at least one member of their household in poor health.
Role of Federal Government
-
54.4percent of pantries, 33.5percent of kitchens, and 31.4percent of shelters receive food from TEFAP.
41 percent of client households are receiving SNAP (formerly food stamps) benefits, an increase of 64 percent over 2006.
54 percent of client households with children ages 0 to 3 participate in the WIC program, compared to 51 percent in 2006.
Among households with school-age children, 62 percent participate in the federal school lunch program and 54 percent participate in the school breakfast program.
Agencies
-
Feeding America food banks provide food and groceries to 33,500 food pantries, 4,500 soup kitchens and 3,600 emergency shelters.
68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.
55 percent, are faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations; 33 percent are other types of nonprofit organizations.
Loading ...