The holidays are over and if you happen to be in the business of eliminating hunger, so are the easy times.
As a board member and officer of our local food coalition, I get to see the local pantry and community meal center up close and personal. (We don’t call it a “soup kitchen” anymore; there’s a whole lot more than soup being served these days.)
It seems that as long as the Yule log is burning, people just about trip over themselves to donate food and cash. It’s as if they just heard that people are hungry.
Once things get back to normal though, so does the giving. Not to say that people don’t care, but they just don’t seem to see the hunger problem with the same intensity that they do at holiday time.
I think part of the problem is the press. Both the media attention and the lack of attention contribute to cycle. During the holidays and in the midst of disasters, there’s no end to the front page stories of hungry people. The local papers devote pages and pages to the subject. In my city of New London, The Day published no less than three major articles, countless photos and several columns describing the problem and local efforts to help.
But now, not a single word let alone a picture. Did I miss something? Has hunger been eliminated as a social problem?
It’s as if all those photos of well-stocked pantry shelves and fat turkeys being carved have convinced folks that the need is taken care of. Not so.
People need help year round and lately with economy suffering, more and more families are feeling the pinch. Let’s try to remember that people need access to food every day, not just on holidays. Help get the word out. Let your local media know that hunger doesn’t take a holiday.
PTC
As a board member and officer of our local food coalition, I get to see the local pantry and community meal center up close and personal. (We don’t call it a “soup kitchen” anymore; there’s a whole lot more than soup being served these days.)
It seems that as long as the Yule log is burning, people just about trip over themselves to donate food and cash. It’s as if they just heard that people are hungry.
Once things get back to normal though, so does the giving. Not to say that people don’t care, but they just don’t seem to see the hunger problem with the same intensity that they do at holiday time.
I think part of the problem is the press. Both the media attention and the lack of attention contribute to cycle. During the holidays and in the midst of disasters, there’s no end to the front page stories of hungry people. The local papers devote pages and pages to the subject. In my city of New London, The Day published no less than three major articles, countless photos and several columns describing the problem and local efforts to help.
But now, not a single word let alone a picture. Did I miss something? Has hunger been eliminated as a social problem?
It’s as if all those photos of well-stocked pantry shelves and fat turkeys being carved have convinced folks that the need is taken care of. Not so.
People need help year round and lately with economy suffering, more and more families are feeling the pinch. Let’s try to remember that people need access to food every day, not just on holidays. Help get the word out. Let your local media know that hunger doesn’t take a holiday.
PTC
3 comments:
hello,
Can you please post online WHERE and WHEN (hours) one can go do donate food in the New London Area?
I have a bunch of food I want do donate in the new london area. A simple google search is not yielding how to do this. I looked for 106 Truman Street but could not find it, and certainly there were no signs.
Thanks.
Hello,
Food may be donated to the Gemma Moran United Way Labor Food Center located at 374 Broad Street, New London. It is the foodbank that supplies most of the New London area pantries. It is open M-F from 9-4:30pm.
If you prefer to donate directly to one specific pantry, in this case the New London Area Food Coalition Pantry, you may bring food to the OIC building located at 106 Truman Street, NL on Mondays, 2-4pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10-12pm.
Two years later with the economy struggling to recover and fears of a double dip, I imagine the situation is still similar. I live near Detroit, whose unemployment rates are abysmal, and anywhere you're dealing with cold weather, you also have the need for heat in the winter. We have region-wide fundraising programs to help with that issue in addition to food.
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