What Inspires me in the Fight Against Hunger
Well, actually, it isn’t necessarily what. It’s more likely who. The first line of leadership inspiration is the hungry people in the food pantry line. A food pantry really is all about the people grappling with hunger.
But, where did this whole thing actually begin? For me, it all started with Robert F. Kennedy. In 1967, he traveled to Mississippi to see poverty and hunger for what it was. Being a wealthy man from a wealthy family, he actually had no idea.
Down there he saw hunger and poverty for what it was, not what he thought it should be. He saw people, elderly people, adults, children. He saw people with no jobs, no welfare, no surplus commodities, and no food stamps.
If the history books tell this story correctly, it was the children who got to him. He saw the hunger as it was. Seeing children hungry to the point of near starvation, Robert F. Kennedy came face-to-face with malnutrition.
Robert F. Kennedy was both moved and angry.
There is a book out there telling the story of their hunger. You may or may not ever have heard about this book. “So Rich, So Poor” was written by Peter Edelman.
In reading about Robert F. Kennedy, I read a paragraph which has meaning for me:
“All of us, from the wealthiest to the young children that I have seen in this country, in this year, bloated by starvation – we all share one precious possession, and that is the name American.
“It is not easy to know what that means.
“But in part to be an American means to have been an outcast and a stranger, to have come to the exiles’ country, and to know that he who denies the outcast and stranger still amongst us, he also denies America.”
Those words resonate with me. They may mean nothing to you. But, whether or not they have meaning for you, they are powerful words and they tell a story I see in the food pantry line.
I thank you for reading this blog post. I thank you for your interest in fighting hunger. I know that distributing food in a food pantry is not going to do away with hunger.
But, this I do know: Distributing food in a food pantry will keep the shoppers in that line from starvation for three days.
This is all I can do. This has to be enough until a better option comes along.
Thurman Greco
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"I Don't Hang Out in Churches Anymore", "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich, "Take This Bread" by Sara Miles, "To be an American means to have been an outcast and a stranger.", "Under the Overpass" by Mike Yankoski, Apply for snap!, Distributing food in a food pantry will keep the shoppers in that line from starvation for three days., Fight hunger!, Food pantries and SNAP are no longer emergency concepts., malnutrition, miracles, neighbors, Pantries cannot support without the backing of the communities where they exist., Peter Edelman, Robert F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy saw children hungry to the point of near starvation.", SNAP can make a difference., SNAP is a debit card, So Poor", So Poor" by Peter Edelman, Where did this story begin?, You can still shop at a pantry if you get SNAP, You might be eligible for SNAP, Your help is needed to fight hunger.