Have you seen Hungry?
Every January 1, The Perfect Pantry takes a moment to recommit to the fight against childhood hunger in America.
The statistics are appalling. One out of five kids -- that's 16 million kids -- don't get the food they need. Children who don't eat enough suffer long-term health consequences, and they have difficulty excelling in school. Kids from food-insecure households who do get hot meals in school during the week still face weekends without hot meals, or without any meals. And what happens in summer, when school is out?
We can do better. All of us, working together, can do better.
Why not start by making a tax-deductible contribution to No Kid Hungry? Click this link: http://www.nokidhungry.org/.
You can read more about hunger here.
Thank you, in advance, for all you will do in 2014 to end childhood hunger in America.
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I am horrified every time I see the US government cut food stamps, school lunch programs and everything that can make a child's life better. Healthier, happier and better educated children make a happier and brighter future for the country (and the world) and it is shameful that some don't see it that way. We all need to not only reach into our pockets but get out and vote!
A wonderful, generous and thoughtful way to start the new year, dear friend.
Jamie, as an American living in the US, I find it impossible to explain to friends in other parts of the world that our country places such little value on the health of our children.
Lydia, thank you for your yearly reminder. I find the topic of hunger - especially in children - almost unbearable. In the past year I have started making regular monthly donations to three anti-hunger organizations - two of them right in Philadelphia, one of them a neighborhood that has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country. It's not a lot of money, but at least they can count on it coming in every month.
My grandmother (the kugel maker) used to tell me a story about when she was a child in a shtetl in the Ukraine. Their family had one loaf of bread in the house, which was going to be their dinner, but her mother heard about a family nearby who had no food to eat. She brought them the loaf of bread.
I have had varied reactions to this story at different times in my life - the first one being, how can kids feel safe and cared for if their own mother gives away their food. Now I feel that, but I also see it as the story of a woman who was so distressed by others' hunger that she would do anything to help them. A Sophie's choice, indeed - but I am sure there are mothers in our country and our time who go hungry so that their kids can eat.