The Face of Hunger

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry is an ecumenical non-profit organization that is helping feed the need in Calhoun County. The Food Pantry is a member of the Mississippi Food Network/America’s Second Harvest. St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, Bruce United Methodist Church, Lewis Memorial Methodist Church Calhoun City, Bailey Memorial, Vardaman and the rest of the Calhoun County Methodist Cluster and many wonderful men and women from various prayer groups have come together and distributed approximately 30,000 pounds of food in 2006. In 2005 we distributed 18,000 pounds. The need for more food donations has increased because hunger has increased.

In our area alone, over 400 individuals rely on Our Daily Bread Food Pantry for a box of food once a month. Some are children but over half are retired men and women trying to live on a small retirement check. That 400 is only the tip of iceberg. There are many more that we can’t serve because we don’t know about them and because we don’t have enough to give.

Ordinary people….young and old, male and female, black and white. The face of hunger will surprise you. Many people experience the invasion of hunger in their lives and they look just like you and me. Because the face of hunger looks like us, it is up to us to make a difference. It is a tragedy that anyone in this country should be hungry when the USA produces enough food to feed the world. 20 percent of food in the US is wasted and thrown away. There is no shortage of food in the United States and sadly there is no shortage of people that are ‘food insecure’.

Who are these hungry people? You might be surprised.
There is the child who can’t concentrate in school because she didn’t have enough to eat last night. Her older brother is disabled and he can’t stand to see his baby sister crying because she didn’t have enough to eat, so he gives her half of his portion. He goes to bed hungry and vows that one day he will somehow make sure that he and his sister will have enough to eat.

An elderly woman has diabetes and it is getting worse because she doesn’t get the proper nourishment. Some well-meaning soul brought her a box of doughnuts to eat when her sugar drops. She really needs a jar of peanut butter.

The older gentleman tries to help out the ‘widow women’ he knows by running their little errands but his heart is giving him trouble because he had to decide if he was going to buy medicine or buy some food that was good for him this month. He can’t afford to do both on his small retirement pension.

Everyday people in Calhoun County don’t get enough to eat. It’s happening in Bruce and Calhoun City and Vardaman and all the places in between. It happens to the working poor who have had a temporary crisis or people that are laid off from work or have a devastating sickness that is beyond their control. Often they have already used up what little savings they may have socked away and they are ashamed to ask for help.

The fact remains that they are still hungry!
I can’t predict the stock market or the weather but I can share some facts about hunger that will impact all of us as Our Daily Bread Food Pantry enters its seventh year of operation.

Fact: According to the USDA in January of 2006, more than 38 million Americans are living on the brink of hunger. That is 13.5 million households that are ‘food insecure’.

Fact: Heat or Eat? People face a real dilemma in the winter. Do they heat their house or do they eat 3 meals a day? If they cut back on food then they can keep their homes a little warmer.

Fact: Higher utility rates mean higher utility bills. Even when you turn the thermostat down and only turn on necessary lights, the rate hikes still run up the electric bills. Higher health costs and higher fuel costs all add to the need for food assistance.

Fact: Not all people who need Food Pantry assistance get food stamps nor are they eligible. Most families that do get food stamps get less than $20. That really goes a long way.

Fact: 379 to 400 people rely on a box of food from Our Daily Bread Food Pantry once a month. The majority are elderly men and women who have worked hard all their lives and now they have reached the ‘Golden Years’ and they don’t have enough of the right stuff to eat.

Fact: The 2000 census showed that 19.9% of Mississippians live at or below the poverty level.
The population of Calhoun County is approximately 16,069 people.
18.10% of the population of Calhoun County are below the poverty line.
29.3% of the population of Bruce is below.
25.2% of Calhoun City is below.
24.1% of Vardaman is below.
18.6% of Derma is below.
20.7% of Big Creek is below.
27.3% of Slate Springs is below.
1.1% of Pittsboro is below. (I think someone is withholding the truth about Pittsboro)

You do the math. Our Daily Bread is only able to feed half of these people that have the need. I can dig up more statistics but where hunger is concerned, statistics are only numbers with the tears brushed off.

How can you make a difference?
People feel powerless to help their community or they may just choose to close their eyes and hope that it all goes away. Some might say let some government agency take care of it and we all know how that doesn’t seem to work. People of faith can make a difference. They can band together and take charge and take care of their brothers and sisters.

Our Daily Bread Food Pantry needs your help and you can help in so many ways. Your contribution can be in the form of a monetary donation. You can organize a food drive by collecting our most needed items through your office or church or youth group or community group. You can volunteer at the pantry. Participate on Food Packing night by sorting and packing the boxes for the monthly distribution. Help us with the clerical work once a month. Be here to carry out boxes of food on distribution day or help direct traffic or help people sign up. Help us with our once a year Empty Soup Bowl fund raiser by making soup and selling it.

How can you make a difference? Buy the ‘3 fer’ and ‘2 fer’ deals at the grocery and put 1 or 2 of those items in a bag and give it to the pantry. Help us come up with ideas to raise the funds needed to keep the Pantry up and running. Sacrifice a couple of hours of your time so that others won’t go hungry.