Stamping Out Hunger

As I was reading an article in the Parade section of the newspaper (the actual paper version) a couple of weeks ago I came across a statistic that stated that more than 50 million Americans, including one in five children, don’t know where there next meal is coming from. And Howard G. Buffett, son of Warren, was quoted saying, “There’s no reason we can’t put hunger out of business in America.” The article went on to describe ongoing efforts by him and others that are joining in the fight to feed America. This got me thinking of my own inconsistent participation in making inroads against hunger in my community over the years. I've invited family, friends, and strangers alike to eat spaghetti on many a Wednesday. I've volunteered my cooking talents at Schulzbacher’s Center for the Homeless (once), I used to distribute day old bread from Publix and pizza mistakes from Pizza Hut to people who could use it, and I worked with a dear friend distributing food to the elderly through her nonprofit organization, Our Daily Bread. But I've gotten away from all but spaghetti night for quite a while until this article “poked” me and got me thinking about how I can help stamp out hunger in America.

Here is my plan so far. Since I cook something nearly every day (some days the grandkids have to fend for themselves with soup and sandwich-my adult kids will no doubt remember that too), I plan to pack up an extra meal out of whatever I’m fixing and connect it with someone that can use it. I just need to figure out the logistics for the days I am traveling and the actual packaging of the meals. I will keep you posted as my plan comes to fruition but you can figure at least one more person will be eating spaghetti on Wednesdays either way.