No one should go hungry in America. NO ONE!!!
You should be ASHAMED, America!! I suppose you would be if you were not so HUNGRY!!!!
"Demand growing for food assistance as holidays near; Charities feeling a squeeze" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | November 3, 2008
FALL RIVER - Not three weeks after the state commander of the Salvation Army tearfully asked his officers not to turn any families away this winter, Major Elizabeth Deming realized just what she was up against.
On the first day she took applications for Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas baskets last month, 344 families showed up, filling the chapel and the hallway and lining up outside. In the days that followed, hundreds more brought the total to 1,050, more than twice the number of people who applied by Thanksgiving last year.
"Lord, what are we going to do?" Deming recalled thinking. "Where are all the turkeys going to come from? I'm still thinking 'Where are all the turkeys going to come from?' "
At a time of widespread concern about joblessness and sky-high heating prices squeezing people this winter, relief organizations in communities across the state are facing profound increases in families seeking food and are girding for a spike in holiday demand.
"We're seeing both the individual who's on the edge has tipped over to the other side and the individual that never even could imagine needing a food pantry has found themselves unemployed or lost their homes," said Catherine D'Amato, president of the the Greater Boston Food Bank , which supplies food to 600 hunger-relief agencies and food pantries, including some Salvation Army branches.
Hey, our rulers need not worry: Lunch at the U.N.
Between last October and May, the number of people turning to the Salvation Army for help with food or energy bills soared.... Greenfield experienced an eye-popping 86 percent spike. The latest data are even more alarming. The high food prices that are squeezing consumers are squeezing relief organizations as well.
That hits WAY TOO CLOSE to HOME!!!!!
Concerned about raising enough money to meet the demand, Salvation Army bell-ringers will put out their kettles earlier than usual statewide for the first time - beginning Nov. 12 - in the hopes of restoring Christmastime donations that slipped 8 percent last year and are expected to drop further as larger donors and private foundations face their financial losses for the quarter.
Quite a Christian nation we got here, huh?
At the Salvation Army Fall River Corps food pantry last week, a 46-year-old Fall River woman who had been, for the first time ever, scrounging up change to buy her family's groceries - and was only able to buy about $60 worth, down from $150. Interviewed outside the food pantry, she declined to give her name out of concern for her husband's job, as well as sheer embarrassment.
"I didn't want any of my neighbors seeing me coming over here," said the woman. "My husband wouldn't even come in with me . . . I wouldn't even consider letting my son know."
This is BREAKING MY HEART!! There is NO REASON this woman should feel this way because it is NOT HER FAULT!!!! See how the BRAINWASHING WORKS?
They have YOU feeling ASHAMED for being POOR when it is the STINK RICHER who should be ASHAMED!!!!
Of course, being poor is your fault, 'murkn!
Her chief concern is keeping the condo her family bought early this year for about $190,000 - a mortgage her husband's salary can pay. But since the woman left an untenable workplace - and has been unable to find another job - she no longer has enough money for utilities, gas, and food. A $500 deductible for repairs after a car accident put the bills over the edge. Now, she's coming to the food pantry and considering a job offer from the Salvation Army: ringing a bell by the red kettle for $8 an hour.
There are your JOB OPPORTUNITIES around here (seasonal, part-time, no benefits)!!
Like families and businesses tightening their belts this season, the Salvation Army finds itself making tough decisions. Take Thanksgiving turkeys. This year, its South End Thanksgiving Distribution is 400 turkeys short - and officers are warning senior citizens who expected to pick up turkey dinners that the meals will be reserved for those who have families to feed. Seniors without children or grandchildren will have to go to group Thanksgiving dinners instead.
Whether the organizations will be able to raise enough money to meet the increasing need is an open question. Last week, the Greater Boston Food Bank, Citizens Energy Corporation, the United Way, and the Red Cross were among the recipients of an unusual grant release by the Boston Foundation to help stem the local economic crisis. Unlike many foundations whose levels of giving ride the market, the Boston Foundation has an endowment that keeps its donations relatively level.
"We're trying to help the community rise to this occasion," said Paul S. Grogan, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation. "Of course, everyone's worried about the state budget cuts as well and how severely those will diminish the capacity of the nonprofit sector. Just at the moment human need will be the greatest, the public-sector capacity to support these agencies is going to contract."
At least Hollywood, Big Pharma, and the war looters won't get hurt.
Both the food pantry and the Salvation Army are hopeful that donors will step up to meet the increasing demands.
I'm sorry, I am simply TAPPED OUT!!!
The Salvation Army - an evangelical Christian relief organization - relies on something in short supply in many other corners these days: faith. --more--"
Which is something you can not have in government in Amerika anymore!!
And hunger is REGION WIDE, folks!!
"N.H. charities say donations falling short
New Hampshire's charitable organizations say applications for help are up but donations are down as they gear up for the holidays. At the Salvation Army in Portsmouth, Chet Emmons says requests for Thanksgiving and holiday food baskets have increased about 20 percent from last year. At the same time, donations have dropped by a similar percentage. At the Somersworth Youth Haven, director Teresa Johanson says donations for its Toys for Tots program were down last year and she expects them to be even less this year. Last year was the first time the organization had to partner with another group to collect enough toys to distribute (AP)."
But we have TRILLIONS for WARS and BANK BAILOUTS!!!!
Nothing breaks my heart more than a child with no toy on Christmas. Just thinking about it brings water to my eyes.
