One in seven Americans now lives in poverty. More startling is that one in five children is living in poverty.
It’s not surprising that these numbers from the Census Bureau’s poverty report unearth another consequence of the on-going economic crisis, even though economists said this week that the recession is over.
One in five kids—heart breaking.
Fortunately, there are amazing people whose life mission is to help those in need. You’ll start hearing about those agencies more and more in the next six weeks as we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons.
One such agency that I’ve always supported is the local food bank in what-ever-city I find myself in. I’m fortunate that I have had the power of a television newscast to give voice to the true heroes who collect and distribute food with the precision rivaled only by a Google algorithm.
If you have never had an opportunity to visit a food bank operation center, you’re missing something special. These are amazing places that do everything from collect donated food, grow it in their community gardens, or make it in a 21st century version of a soup kitchen. The common needs of all food banks are volunteers, donations, and advocates. As you would expect by the poverty numbers, food banks aren’t lacking people in need.
If you can find an hour or two in your busy schedule to sort through some cans or make some deliveries, do it! It is a very rewarding experience. Even if you don’t have the time; pick up some extra cans of food or jars of peanut butter and find a food drive where you can donate. That’s pretty rewarding too.
Obviously, you can Google food bank and your city. But I tried to make it easy for you to find further information. This site lets you search for the organization in your community.
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