Food banks: We can do better

To the Editor: In the days before news was entertainment, the media discussed the issues of the day and enlightened and inspired us to bring change and to make a difference in the lives of others. We hear about values a lot these days, but sadly, those values are not harnessed to do what we should do. I spent two hours on June 6 with 130 other volunteers at NORWESCAP’s Sort-A-Thon for hunger. NORWESCAP is a community action program for five area counties, running Head Start, programs for seniors, other worthy initiatives and a food bank that serves some 120 agencies that serve the hungry. A food bank is a place where food, typically non-perishable goods, are offered free or at low cost to the poor. Most, like NORWESCAP’s, are non-profit and get food from companies or supermarkets or from public donations. NORWESCAP, according to a staff member at the Warren County locale, processes some 80,000 pounds a food a month, and routinely processes close to two million pounds a year, often just enough to meet needs. Food banks differ from soup kitchens in that the food is not prepared, though food banks supply such kitchens. Statewide statistics suggest that some 537,000 people use food banks and related programs. Food banks nationwide cater to some 27 million Americans. Of those participating, 36 percent are children under 18. Nationwide studies suggest that some nine million children or more are hungry. Seven percent are elderly. Many of those in need are the working poor, who report a median monthly income of some $700; some 68 percent fall below the poverty line, whether working or not. As Robert Kennedy observed, we live in a society where increasingly the incomes of Americans are as “unequal today as they were under President Hoover.” The promise of our Constitution was never prosperity for some and poverty for others, but that is what is happening in this nation on a daily basis. Not only the poor, but middle-income Americans find themselves further and further behind. Recently, a single mother - a teacher- told me she must make choices between food and utilities. She is not alone: One study shows that some 40 percent of those who participate in food banks also make choices between food and housing, and similar choices between food and health care. Some 40 years ago President Kennedy noted that “a rising tide lifts all boats” We need to pull together as we once did to solve challenges such as hunger, homelessness, and to provide an economy that works for all. We have more children living in poverty than any other nation in the developed world. As Ted Kennedy said, “It is time to stop making excuses and make sure the economy works for all of us again.” Meanwhile, please give to food banks and soup kitchens, and remember: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison you visited me .”(Source: Gospel of Matthew) We can do more and we can be better. Bill Weightman Franklin