An estimated 47 million people in the U.S. face food insecurity, some of them probably in your own neighborhood.
Everyone deserves healthy food to live a full, healthy life. Yet millions of hardworking families still face hunger – and when people don’t have enough to eat, it impacts their health, education, future opportunities… even threatening their very existence. These numbers reveal a crisis that threatens us all, but together, we can go forth to help alleviate it.
I ran into an old friend at the supermarket who I hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. She was in line to buy a small coffee, and I was a bit shocked at how skinny and tired she looked. I offered to buy a couple of coffees and bagels for us, and we spent the next half hour catching up.
I was saddened to hear how challenging life had become for her since we last saw each other, including the loss of her husband, grown kids who rarely saw or tended to her, and the financial strain she was facing. All things considered, it was a miracle she could still get around – and in such good spirits.
Still, it didn’t take me long to discern that she was struggling to afford even the basic necessities such as nutritious food and toiletries. That, in sharp contrast to my nearly full cart of groceries parked right next to me.
There was nothing for it but to offer some help, despite her repeated objections. “God wants you to eat,” said I. And with that, we finally headed back into the grocery store to outfit her with some essentials.
As much as I wanted to continue to help her on a regular basis, I knew it wasn’t quite possible on my own, so I called up some neighborhood friends and made my plea. For starters, everyone took inventory of their pantries and came up with boxes upon boxes of nutritious excess. Many even augmented that with trips to the grocery store to help fill in the gaps, ensuring my friend not only had the essentials, but had food in abundance. A few others also volunteered to help check up on my friend from time to time.
Aside from being grateful, and continuing to share her good spirits with us… do you know what that woman did next? She shared the food with some of her neighbors who were also in need.
