Feed Them

Millions of people everyday have to make hard choices most of us cannot imagine having to make. They must choose between buying food, paying for shelter, getting medical care or medicine. They do not have the luxury of cabinets, refrigerators and freezers with food in them every month. Are you ready to MAD?

Statistics

When chasing down where the money goes each month, families all know the second largest expense is food (right behind housing). Everyday 30% of families have to make a choice between food and medical care or medicine.

While we see television and internet commercials for overseas hunger problems, what is not advertised are the hungry people in the United States. More than 35 million Americans go without sufficient food because they do not have enough money and resources.

12.5 million children go hungry everyday.

As many as 25% of school children will only get one meal today. It will be served in a school cafeteria.

Many of the soup kitchens still in operation serve as many as 1,000 meals per week. One quarter (250) of those meals will be served to a child. Soup kitchens need volunteers all year, but especially during holidays and winter.

96 billion pounds of food are wasted yearly.

We throw away enough food to feed…

48 million people for a year

Remember what you were told when you did not clean your plate of veggies? How many people are hungry? Hmm…

Make A Difference

You can absolutely make a difference in the hunger situation.

1. Locate the nearest organization which supports the hungry. Try places like:

  • Food banks or pantries
  • Homeless and abuse shelters
  • Soup kitchens (community, military or faith-based)

What do they need?

2. Volunteer. Even organizations with plenty of supplies do not have enough hands to distribute food.

  • Serve food.
  • Deliver food to shut-ins and senior centers.
  • Pick up food from retail centers.

3. Donate food. Go through your pantry. Dried and canned food you have had more than a month can go to feed the hungry. Only shop by the week? Pick up three food items per person in your household to donate. Do you know what to buy?

  • Peanut butter and preserves
  • Canned meat and fish
  • Canned fruit and vegetables
  • Rice
  • Beans
  • Pasta
  • Tomato products
  • Oatmeal and cereal
  • Baby food and formula
  • Powdered and evaporated milk
  • Flour and sugar
  • Powdered drink mix
  • Nuts
  • Dried fruit
  • Juice (not cocktail) and nectar
  • Soups

Think of the ingredients you use at home, not just corn and green beans. Think about good sources of vitamins and minerals, like mushrooms, olives, salmon, asparagus, spinach, banana chips, yogurt covered fruits, apricots, pineapple,… Look at your own shopping list for ideas.

4. Host or support a food drive. Get your friends, colleagues, teammates, family and random strangers to donate canned goods or non-perishable food items. Deliver them to a distribution center.

5. Purchase and give gift cards. Homeless people have no place to store canned goods. Give them a gift certificate to a fast food restaurant. Carry one in your wallet. When you see someone homeless, be spontaneous and give.

6. Donate money. Food banks need to give perishable goods to families with children. Money buys fresh milk, meat, bread, eggs, cheese, fruit and vegetables. With a discount, a little money goes a long way to curbing hunger.

7. Make a meal. Do you know someone who struggles with hunger? Make a meal. Invite them to eat with you or bring it to them.

MAD for Hunger

It is your turn to MAD.

Most of us cannot appreciate what it feels like to go hungry for a day, much less for weeks at a time. Hunger robs a body of its natural defenses, making the choice between food and medical care even harder to make. Hunger can deplete bones of calcium, causing osteoporosis, hair loss, tooth loss and decay in very young people. Hunger causes fatigue.

Ever had an energy or candy bar to pick yourself up in the middle of a long day? What if there was nothing for a snack? Imagine going home to nothing to eat at all. Make a difference. You will appreciate what you have to eat as the blessing it is.


~~~~~~~~~~

Do you MAD for hunger now? When was the last time you donated to a food bank or homeless shelter to provide food for the hungry? Can you commit to Make A Difference for hunger this week? 

(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2012
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37 Comments

  1. I volunteer at a used bookstore. The profits go directly to the foodbank in the lower level of the same building. You wouldn’t BELIEVE the people that come in there. It’s so sad to see the people who come there. . . and the children . . . People cry who are helped.
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    Reply
    • Red

       /  May 11, 2012

      Excellent! The people who get help are almost always grateful.

      Reply
  2. Laurie

     /  May 11, 2012

    The postal service helps with a food drive right before Mother’s Day. They deliver a brown bag to you, all you have to do is put in non-perishables that you have an excess of and sit it by the mail box. Takes five minutes at most and you don’t have to leave the house, just check the cabinets for things that you are sure you won’t use before they expire and someone else will.

    Reply
    • Laurie

       /  May 11, 2012

      On a side note, no one should ever have to ask themselves why they have six boxes of grits, three cans of cranberry sauce or three large boxes of the same kind of cereal no one will eat like they’re planning for a natural disaster they fully intend to find more reasons to complain through.

      Reply
    • Red

       /  May 11, 2012

      Sweet. I wish that was a national event and not just in AL.

      Reply
      • Laurie

         /  May 11, 2012

        Me too. Our brown bag goes by the mailbox in the morning for pickup. The preschool already did their food drive this year, and so has the movie theater with canned food for admission. The softball game with food as admission has already happened too. Geez, there are a lot of things to do that don’t require a lot of effort, I could get the kid out of the house more.

        Reply
        • Red

           /  May 12, 2012

          That is one of the great things about canned good admission events. The entertainment is great.

          Reply
  3. I agree that so much food is thrown away, stockpiles to be exact and it all comes down to greed, wealthy countries with starving families and people living on the streets, often through no fault of their own is just too ridiculous for words.

    I mean it all looks impressive on the face of it but underneath there are flaws, flaws where the needy just go on needing and the homeless are repeatedly left behind in a world of pure greed, it is shocking but unfortunately it is true.

    This is a very thought provoking posting Red and reminds us that not everyone is fortunate, indeed in a world that has so much to offer its people, we are lacking in the very basic of needs, it is time for change but when that change will happen is anyone’s guess? 🙁

    Have a lovely weekend Red and be good 🙂

    Androgoth XXx

    Reply
    • Red

       /  May 12, 2012

      I think the changes happens everyday with us. As we help one another, instead of looking the other way, we do affect change. I am thinking there is another blog post in this one, my fine sir.

      Reply
      • I will definitely be looking forward to it Red, and later I will try and catch up some more, I don’t like just leaving short comments when you have taken the trouble to add such excellent pieces of writing.

        I like to read your postings and then give a meaningful response, I guess this is one of the reasons why I get so far behind on the more quality Spaces but I will try a little harder after the weekend 🙂

        Have a lot of fun today my great friend 🙂

        Androgoth XXx

        Reply
        • Red

           /  May 12, 2012

          In your own time. Enjoy the races. Oh, and check your email. 😉

          Reply
  4. I don’t have to imagine … I’ve been homeless a couple times, once while pregnant. If I did not have good friends now, I would be there a third time now.

    I must admit, it is hard to not get cynical when I see help and money going to places far away, when America has a whole alley to clean up.

    Good post.
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    Reply
    • Red

       /  May 12, 2012

      I have never, and will never, contribute to overseas anything. There is far too much in our own backyard which needs cleaning to waste my energy anywhere else. In the realm of family, country, world…I cannot ever get past country because the whole rest of it is busy going in the opposite direction through the list. <3

      Reply

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