I had a great Father’s
Day. My wonderful son received tickets
to attend the Donald Driver Foundation Packers softball game. It was a fun afternoon at Appleton’s Fox
Cities Stadium watching the Packers defense vs. the Packers offense. Between innings there were the goofy games
that amused the crowd. There were the occasional chants of “Go, Pack, Go!” We saw a lot of flubs and we saw muscled
brutes in green and gold whack the ball way beyond the fence.
In my research of the game
I discovered one of the sponsors was Thrivent Financial for Lutherans directing
proceeds to Ending Hunger in Eastern
Wisconsin. I shared that information
with my young adult son who chuckled saying, “as if there’s hunger in Eastern
Wisconsin.”
I don’t fault my son. Kids his age think of hunger as naked
children in Africa with distended bellies, too weak to shoo away the flies. Not just 21-year olds: there are scads of people naïve to the issue
of local hunger. Hunger may be disguised
but it is among us and in our communities.
Thirty-some years ago, a
school secretary saw a need, so she and her neighbor started a local food
pantry. The secretary saw lethargic kids
coming to school without breakfast. She
kept it in confidence but she knew how many students were on free and reduced
lunches. She observed first-hand that
there was a hunger issue in the town.
The two women brought the
need to the community. They addressed
service clubs and they spoke to the churches about their plan for a pantry. One church basement lady patronized them
saying that it was an honorable plan but she was certain there were no hungry
people in the community. The food pantry
began. In the first 12 months the food
pantry had over 100 requests. The numbers increased every year after that. Ha hah to you, Church Basement Lady!
Every community that I
have been in has had some sort of food pantry.
None of them are perfect. Some
need better organization and choreography. They all notice a handful of abusers
of the system. But, they all witness genuinely hungry people who are
undernourished and under fed. It may be families with children and it might be
that growing demographic of elderly who must decide if they will eat or take
their medication.
The simple contributions
and donations of common people make an impact on those who are in need. So many people know that they are one
paycheck away from being in the same boat.
Local pantries are
indebted to the donors who supply food and money so that the shelves can be
stocked. Blessings be upon programs of
the Boy Scouts and the USPS mail carriers who go door-to-door reminding the
community and then pick up food donations.
In our part of the state, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin
is an incredible resource in the fight to end hunger. In its 16-county service area, Second Harvest
provided 11.5 million meals last year.
Dear Readers: there is never a bad time to write a check
for local hunger programs. Second
Harvest is certainly worthy of your contribution. St. John’s folks, a check for the Samaritan
Fund would be appreciated in a time when kids are at home and there is no
school lunch program. Any organization
getting food to hungry people could make use of food or cash donations.
Volunteers are always needed, also.
As for the Green Bay
Packers playing softball—I recommend that they keep their day jobs.
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