Today is not a good day to be picking up food from a food pantry, or receiving a meal from a soup kitchen. Due to the increasing cost of food, more and more people who need assistance, and less government donations, food pantries and soup kitchens across the United States are facing a crisis.
“This is as bare as I have ever seen the shelves,” said Melissa Travis in a press release on the People's Resource Center web site. Travis is the Director of Food Services at the People's Resource Center food pantry in Wheaton, Illinois.
“We just can’t buy the quantities we need to keep the pantry full," she added, "and that, coupled with a 40% drop in the commodities we receive from the Federal Government and the weakening economy, makes a ‘Perfect Storm’ of circumstances.”
Susannah Rosenblatt from the Los Angeles Times reported in January 2008 that there are 44.7 million fewer meals for the needy in California.
Meanwhile, the New York Times pointed out that the Food Bank for New York City--which used to distribute 5.5 million pounds of food per month to food pantries and kitchens--can now only provide 3 million pounds.
Pantries and kitchens across the U.S. depend on the outcome of the farm bill, which will determine how much food the government provides in upcoming years.
The Senate is currently debating the farm bill. Many food pantries may be forced to close if it doesn't pass, such as the Campaign Against Hunger pantry covered in the New York Times.
You can help your community during this time of need. The solution is simple: run a food drive.
Deliver flyers to your neighbors and pick up the food from their doorsteps the next week. Pass these flyers on to your Key Club or other volunteer club at school, and ask them to encourage members to join your efforts.
You can copy and paste this food drive flyer into MS Word, fill in the blanks, and print out it out for distribution.
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