Hunger Is Not a Disease

SNAP for YOU

Think back to the time when you were a child.  Life was probably less complicated then.  Occasionally your parents or grandparents or maybe a school teacher, or a rabbi, priest, or pastor had talks with you about life.

Your mother, father, grandmother, teacher may have spoken about sex, money, God, doing right from wrong, not stealing.  These talks were important.

Well, now you are an adult with your own life.  Consciously or unconsciously, these early life talks shaped you and still influence you to this day.  The reality is that the person who took the time and effort to make you a successful adult may now be in need of a talk.  It’s entirely possible that this older person of influence to you is quietly doing without the food necessary to lead a healthy life.

Why is this happening?

Well, there may simply be more days in the month than money.  Many seniors in our country have outlived their pensions, savings, ability to hold down a job.  Statistics tell us that one senior in seven doesn’t get enough to eat.  SNAP is one successful way to help seniors.

Seniors are eligible for SNAP.

If you are a senior, please apply for these benefits.  You worked all your life, paid your taxes, contributed to the economy.  It’s time to benefit from all the contributions you made throughout your life.

SNAP helps pay for the food you need to live a healthy life.  When you eat healthier food, you can prevent and control some chronic health issues.  This will lower your medical bills.

When you get groceries with SNAP, you’ll have money for other things you need.

SNAP is a debit card offering privacy.  That way, if you don’t want anyone to know you receive SNAP, they won’t.

When you use SNAP, your community benefits.  This is because you bring money into your local economy which helps farmers, grocers, and local businesses.

When you receive SNAP, you are not taking money away from someone else who might need it more.  There are enough SNAP dollars for everyone.

Apply for SNAP at your local Department of Social Services office.

 

Thank you for reading this article.  Please refer this blog post to your preferred social media network.

Please share it with your friends or anyone who may benefit from its message.

If the information in this article interested you, please check out more information in “Let’s Live with Thurman Greco”, a YOUTUBE channel with many interviews and much information about alleviating hunger in America.

The website, www.Thurmangreco.com lists books which give more information.  You can also purchase T-shirts, aprons, and other items to support alleviating hunger in America.

Situational Poor

SITUATIONAL POOR – A person fits into a situational category of poverty when s/he lands in a situation created by an event such as a hurricane, fire, flood, pandemic,   or other disaster which destroys the home, job, car.

Food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens are overworked in today’s pandemic world.  The line of hungry people grows every time the place opens.

It’s bad enough that the line grows weekly.  But, worse, many people in the line are confused, afraid.  The never thought they would find themselves in a food pantry line with hundreds of other hungry, confused, afraid.

How should they act?  What should they do?

What do they do with the food, once they get it home?  It may be good food – both delicious and nutritious.  However, it may not be anything recognizable.  More often than not, pantry food doesn’t come with recipes.  Super markets carry thousands of items.  Food pantries carry maybe 50 different items and the labels on the cans and boxes aren’t even recognizable.  The fresh produce may be organic but not be labeled as such.

So, now that the pantry food is in its new found kitchen, there is a big adjustment period involved in getting it to the table.

We are not so far removed from those people in the food pantry.  They are our neighbors, friends, co-workers, relatives, classmates.

And, truth be told, we are all confused, and afraid.

Even though you may not be in the line, there are definitely things you can do.  For starters, send a check to a food pantry, soup kitchen,  or food bank in your area.  If you don’t know where to send the check, look up an organization called:

Feeding America.

Feeding America is glue holding the food pantry world together.  If that doesn’t work for you, search out:  Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, along with the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, do an amazing job of making delicious, nutritious foods available to those who need it most.

These two food banks are only two in a large network of food banks located throughout the country.  If you seeking a feeding facility in another part of the country, these organizations can guide you to one in the area best for you.

If you are uncomfortable sending money, this might be a good time to organize a food drive.

I wrote three action guides which list suggestions and options which are easy-to-understand and read.  You can get these action guides free.  Email me your mailing address and I’ll get your copies in the mail right away.  I’m not even charging postage and handling.

Email me your mailing address to thurmangreco@gmail.com.

The guidelines and suggestions are practical.  I feel confident you’ll discover practical things you can do to help on one of the action guides.

Thank you for caring.

Thanks for reading this article.  Please refer it to your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

Woodstock, New York

 

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

Please refer this post to your preferred social media network.

 

 

Have You Applied for SNAP?

Have you, or has someone you know, applied for SNAP? SNAP is about all that’s left in the way of assistance for people as welfare shrinks and shrinks.

SNAP is important for you and your household because you’ll be able to get more food with your SNAP card and you won’t be hungry anymore. This can translate to better health.

Are there more days in your month than money? Are you a senior who has outlived your pension, savings, or ability to hold down a job. Statistics tell us that one senior in seven doesn’t get enough to eat. SNAP is one successful way to help your situation.

If you have trouble buying food, now is a good time to apply. If you’ve applied in the past and were denied, maybe you need to apply again. You may, after all, have answered a question incompletely or incorrectly and were denied this benefit because of it. Try again. You might do better this time around, especially if you or someone in your house is disabled or is a senior with medical expenses.

You may be reluctant to apply for SNAP because you don’t know if you are eligible. Or, maybe you applied in the past but were denied. Maybe even you don’t know how to apply and are overwhelmed by the application. You might even have never heard of SNAP and think of it as food stamps.

SNAP is a debit card which offers privacy and is easy to use in grocery stores. If you don’t want anyone to know you receive SNAP, they won’t. Once you are approved, your SNAP allotment will be renewed monthly.

One thing: If you work, you need to know how to meet the work requirements. Some information is needed for you to apply successfully for SNAP. This information comes in several categories.

Proof of income is necessary. You can use pay stubs, social security income information.

Are you a senior? You are eligible for SNAP. If you are a senior, please apply for SNAP benefits. You worked all your life, paid your taxes, contributed to the economy. It’s time to benefit from all of the contributions you made throughout your life.

Identification is needed. This might be a state ID, passport, birth certificate.

Bills help. Bring your medical, heating, water, auto, rent bills.

Your social security number and the numbers of everyone in your household are necessary.

Dependent care costs will help. These include day care costs, child support, being an attendant for a disabled adult.

Contact your local Department of Social Services office for application assistance. If this doesn’t work, contact your Office on Aging or Catholic Charities.

SNAP is important for you if you’re having trouble buying groceries. SNAP helps you pay for the food you need to live a healthy life. When you eat healthier food, you will prevent and control some chronic health issues. This will lower your medical bills.

SNAP is important for your community, too, because when you are able to get food with SNAP, you’ll have cash available to use to pay your rent or buy gas to get back and forth to work.

SNAP is also good for your community because the allotment on your SNAP card brings outside money to your community. The money you bring into your local economy helps farmers, grocers, and local businesses.

When you buy groceries with SNAP, you are not taking money away from someone else who might need it more. There are enough SNAP dollars for everyone.

You can still shop at a food pantry if you are eligible for SNAP.

Get SNAP today!

Be well.

Thurman Greco

Thank you for reading this article.  Please refer it to your favorite social media network.

SNAP

SNAP is important.  SNAP will help you if you are having trouble buying groceries.

SNAP is important for your community, too, because when you are able to get food with SNAP, you will have cash available to help pay your rent or buy gas to get back and forth to work.

Have you, or has someone you know, applied for SNAP?  SNAP was formerly known as food stamps..  SNAP is about all that’s left in the way of assistance for people because welfare is shrinking and shrinking and shrinking yet again.

If you are having trouble paying for your groceries, now is a good time to apply.  If you’ve applied in the past and were denied, maybe you need to apply again.  You may, after all, have answered a question incompletely or incorrectly and were denied this benefit.  Try again.  You might do better this time around, especially if you or someone in your house is disabled or is a senior with medical expenses.

Some people are reluctant to apply for SNAP because they don’t know if they are eligible.  Or, maybe they applied in the past but were denied.  Many people don’t know how to apply and are overwhelmed by the application.  Some people have never heard of SNAP and think of it as food stamps.

One thing:  If you work, you need to know how to meet the work requirements.

Some information is needed to successfully apply for SNAP.  This information comes in several categories.

Proof of income is necessary.  This comes in the form of pay stubs, social security income information.

An identification is needed.  This might be a State ID, passport, birth certificate, etc.

Bills help.  This will include medical, heating, water, auto, rent.

Your social security number and the numbers of everyone in your household is necessary.

Dependent Care Costs will help.  These include day care costs, child support, attendant for disabled adult.

Contact your local Department of Social Services office to arrange for application assistance.  If this doesn’t work for you, contact your Office on Aging or Catholic Charities.

SNAP is an important benefit which will help you if you are having trouble buying groceries.

SNAP is important for your community, too, because when you are able to get food with stamps, you will have cash available to help pay your rent or buy gas to get back and forth to work.

SNAP is important for your household because you’ll be able to get more food with your SNAP card and you won’t be hungry anymore.

This translates to better health.

Thank you for reading this blog post.

Please share this article with your preferred social media network.

Please forward this article to anyone and everyone you know who might be able to have a better life with SNAP.

Thurman Greco

This book is being published now and will be available soon!

This book will be going to the publisher before the end of the year.