It might have been the front page story about the more than 500 people being turned away from a soup kitchen in Los Angeles because the numbers of needy far exceeded the supply. I had leftovers from feeding 14.
It might have been the cold, wet slog of participating in a 7am Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 10-K to raise money for Feed America (formerly Second Harvest). I had a hot shower and breakfast waiting for me.
It might have been hearing that 36.2 million Americans, including 12.4 million children, are food insecure. However, these are 2007 numbers and don’t even begin to reflect the fact that this growing pervasiveness of hunger in our nation is even greater today with layoffs, credit crunches, and exploding job insecurity. In the meantime, I have work that can feed my family and pay my bills.
So— here’s my economic stimulus plan for this hunger problem. It’s what I can do, what I want to do, with your help. I can’t do it alone.
PLAN ONE: Feed the hungry through speaking: I will take 10% of my fee and donate it in your client’s name to Feed America or to a local food bank in your client’s neighborhood. The charity will send a letter of confirmation to your client. This allows you to personally ask your client to participate (at no cost to them or you) in feeding the hungry. This is a year-long effort because hunger is not a holiday event.
I have other plans in mind, but let’s first work on the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of need. The gloom of our economy can be lifted from our singular efforts repeated over and over again.
www.eileendargh.com