An Appeal To My Fellow DUers

With the holiday season fast approaching, this is a good time to remind my fellow DUers that food pantries across the country are facing severe shortages. My local food bank reported that donations have notably declined since 9 /11 (go figure!) even though demand is up. These shortages have been reported in cities around the country, in both urban and rural areas.

"Compassionate conservatism" is little more than a catch phrase to many families who depend on food banks to supplement their diets with nutritious food. Let's show a little "compassionate liberalism" and make sure we do what we can to put some food on the table of our neediest citizens.

Non-perishable food items are always welcome, but some food pantries will also accept fresh produce (though check ahead of time). Baby food (boxed cereals or jars, also baby formula) is always in demand. Also, many pantries are seeking frozen turkeys so that families may have a Thanksgiving meal. My own small town provided a Thanksgiving turkey and food basket for 300 of the neediest families, the majority of which are households with small children.

And please don't be shy about collecting food for your local pantry. Set up a drop-off box where you work or make the rounds of your neighborhood one weekend. Print out a "Please give to your local food pantry" sign and stick it in your car window. Perhaps many more people would give but they need a bit of prodding or a gentle reminder.

One last thing. The volunteers at my own food pantry asked for more foods that didn't require cooking, since a number of their families either have no cooking facilities or cannot afford the utilities to run their appliances.

Thanks for your time, and while we continue to fight for all the citizens of this country, let's not forget those who need us the most during the holidays. Finally, bless those of you who are already volunteering at your local food pantry or soup kitchen.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
Truly, I say to you,
as you did it to
one of the least of these,
my brethren,
you did it to me."

-- the words of Jesus Christ

our money/action where our mouth is! :thumbsup:

Winter is an especially hard time for many of the neediest families, as heating costs slice into already meager budgets. I don't have any idea what it must be like to choose between staying warm or eating, but with heating costs predicted to rise as much as 25% this winter (even higher for fuel oil) we need to pitch in and do what we can to help.

last year. I told them my donations instead would go to the Dems who cared about the lower income. I also told them that they could hit up those top 2% who got a tax break and leave me alone. I won't play the GOP game.

I'm sorry you feel that giving a can of baked beans to your local food pantry is "playing the GOP game". I'm sure the hungry family who needs that food will understand your adherence to Democratic principles.

I on the other hand will not punish starving families because 1/2 of America are idiots.

... but completely uncompassionate, and downright asinine.

husband found his children's suffering entertaining, thanks a lot.

By the way, the ex made over $100k a year, but it takes awhile to get free legal help.

that Jeysus that is suppose to feed your Bush loving family?

People go hungry and you're going to be petty. Good going.

substantially from past years . . . guess the Bush economy ain't so great after all . . . I give something each year, and pick up a Santa letter to buy gifts for a child whose parent's can't afford much . . . I can't afford much either, but I do what I can and hope everyone else will do the same . . .

and they still expect the poor to be taken care of by others. OK.

I'd rather know that a hungry person was fed than prove a point in politics.

I suggest that the top 2% of our wealthiest who got tax breaks take over caring for the poor. As I've said I'm not going to play the GOP game of dumping the poor on the social conscience of the middle class while Bush cuts taxes to the most wealthy. You can, but I won't.

Then fuck the poor?

If you're ok with that, then I'm not going to argue with you.

But I suggest you hit up the most wealthy who got the tax cuts and hit them up for support. Most middle class people are barely making it as is. Why the democrats think they should come up with the $ while the upper class could care less is beyond me. Bill Gates and his 14 car garage, and you're talking about how we should chip in to help the needy? Get real.

... in response to your post(s), but I think I'll just say thank you for your participation in this thread. Have a happy holiday.

It's not a debating point, or a tactic to get votes. It's not about who should be shouldering the responsibility, but is looking the other way.

I grew up poor, and I'm not asking for any sympathy, because I am able to put food on the table for my family today. But if you have never been that poor child, unable to concentrate in school because you are hungry; unable to fight off any disease making the rounds because you have a lack of nutrition; dizzy by day from an empty stomach, and with a gnawing pain that doesn't allow you to sleep properly at night; when your family has very little other than pan-a-cakes for both meals for a year, then you really don't think much in terms of who should be paying for a meal from their tax break.

There are hungry kids in America today. They live in every city, in almost every town, and they live in the country-side. We can fool ourselves and pretend hunger is not a problem in America, but it surely is. If you justify your own cold-heartedness by pointing out other people's cold-heartedness, you are exactly as much fault as they are.

http://www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org/cfp/db/generosity.php?year=2004

Not sure what to make of this, but it seems like it shows the states with the highest incomes are less likely to give to charities. It makes me sad to see that the least generous states are mostly blue states. Are we saying that this is just because we have an administration in place that we don't agree with? I'm sorry but I'm going to continue to help those in need as much as I can, especially with * in office for another term, there will likely be even more people in need. If I can't afford to help financially because of the crappy economy, then I'll donate my time.

but along with the higher incomes comes a much higher cost of living. My old company tried to get me to move to Georgia saying that at my salary, I could afford a 4 bedroom house - I stayed in New York in my one bedroom apartment.

Leaving that alone, I don't see how giving food to people who are hungry hurts anyone. I wont be giving to the big, ponderous, administrative heavy charities but will continue to give to the hungry...those who need it most.

n/t

of all.

but allowing a government of the people to foster and adore the rich while sacrificing the needy is wrong...wrong...wrong. I won't play the GOP game.

while proving what amounts to a petty poltical point, you are helping to sacrafice the poor.

I am "off" donating to organizations and so-called religious charities/groups; however, as I said in another thread I DO believe, as I always have, in helping my neighbor in their need.

Afterall, that IS what the Dem party stood for once upon a time.

To some extent I can see where bush calling for all of us to love our neighbor might make one feel like doing so is wrong because HE SAID IT. Like it's playing into his agenda or something. But if that be so, it STILL doesn't address the problems or poverty and need...those problems have been building for yearrrrrrrrrs.

Frankly, I'd like to see the Dems take their energy and means and give to the poor in DROVESSSSSSS (without "strings" attached) so as to SHAME the the stingy f**ks to a faretheewell!!!!!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Bill Gates has a 14 car garage. Why don't we just put containers there outlining the needs of the poor? Why not? He'd have us kicked
off his property.

Can you imagine if we bussed needy uninsured kids needing medical treatment to his homesite? Then the adults? No, I won't play the GOP game of donating to the needy at the cost to the lower and middle income. Thank you.

I'm sorry you are so bitter and paranoid of the GOP that you can't climb out of that place and do what's right. Hell, you might be helping ME with food and such...

I too stood in the store the other day and told the clerk..HELL no I wouldn't donate to such and such charity for the same reasons as you and I added that the government should be taking care of that. Not to mention the fat cat corps.

But helping my next door neighbor with a pot of soup or a warm coat for some homeless guy isn't going to hurt me one damn bit..you neither.

We had an activist group in our liberal town that got chased off by the cops. It was called: FOOD NOT BOMBS

They actually tried to feed people right out in the open with HOT FOOD. Imagine that.......how GOP :crazy:

hell ripple over my body, but is Bill Gates such a good example? He gives an absolutely enormous amount to charity as well as all the work he does with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation . I am aware he probably gets a tax break he doesn't need but still, is he a great example of the rich that don't care? I somehow don't think so. And while he may have endorsed Bush, his company contributed heavily to Kerry and his Dad was against getting rid of the estate tax.
I think he might actually take care of those kids. Oops .... Duck and cover!

a Shit. That's why they pay us $8 per hour. Your actions are identical to theirs...ignoring these children.
Congratulations. You have become that which you detest.

Bill Gates has donated millions to charity. You can afford a few goddam cans of food. Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what other people do anyway, what matters is what YOU do.

Governments on all levels continually try to outsource their responsibilites onto the non-profit organizations, fraudulently promoting the "warm and fuzziness" of it all while claiming it's "up to each and every one us" to care for the less fortunate.

I call bullshit. The very existence of food banks is obscene, and quite plainly shows governments derilect in their sworn duty. When one is vacationing in Mexico, and sees a mother and her children begging on the streets for food, does one say "She should get a fucking job", or "the government should do something about this"?

By the way, I'm Canadian. I try and post here with disgression and stay out of your local politics, but a starving human is a starving human, a food bank is a food bank, and we live in two of the richest countries in the world.

Here, we let them know LOUDLY that we're "onto" them, we know what they're trying to pull off with this outsourcing to non-profits, and we want to see the day when there are no food banks PERIOD.

However, in the meantime, homeless people can literally DIE on the streets of Montreal and Toronto during winter, and heating oil is not an option, it's a matter of life and death. (By the way, no homeless person has died on the streets in those cites in years, because we'd call it MURDER on the part of government, and they know it.)

But while we have them "on notice", if there's a need at the local food bank, we can surely, as one poster put it, donate a few cans of non-perishables.

that about the time the food banks put their barrels next to the most wealthy, maybe they won't try to drain the middle class. Bush's economy profited the rich, he cut the taxes to the rich. Let them develop a social conscience. I do NOT back his plan that the middle class should bail out the lower income while the elitist upper class is excused from any responsibility and only exists for the profit.

...and applying your logic to ANY government - Rep/Dem, Bush/Kerry, Canadian/American, I agree with you 100%.

I think several posters were a little off-put by the "fuck 'em" connotations.

By the way, Merry Christmas...and peace out. (I know; that one's redundant).

and label them bins for the needy. Skip the inner city food banks comcept.

What is your issue with the wealthy? Do you really believe that every single person in that top 1-2% is strictly GOP? They DO give to a countless amount of charities. They pour billions into foundations that subsidize medical research and to help vaccinate children. Some of those people are celebrities and many aren't, but don't think that the top 2% are being so overtly greedy that they won't give some of their money or time to needy causes.

It breaks my heart that a member of our own political party won't spare a few dollars to help provide a hot meal to a family that has nothing. I come from a privileged family and I'm insulted that you would think that I don't care for those less fortunate than myself. I pray that you find a place in your heart for those people and that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday.

Scott

1/100 of the wealth they control to charity....there would be no starving or homeless people in the nation.

Foist your sappy shit on someone dumb enough to swallow it. NO PERSON NEEDS MORE THAN A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR TO LIVE. Whether such a person is a Republican or a Democrat is irrelavent.

It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. How's that for a value?


RC

We have already provided needy children with school supplies.This could also work for us!

but I just thought I'd say this is a great thread. I don't do nearly enough to help feed the homeless and such. My charity lately has been www.childsplaycharity.org, which is mostly toys for sick children and whatnot.

I will continue to aid those less fortunate than me because that is what is right. Because empires can crumble and not be rebuilt, but people will always be hungry.

emergencies, hurricanes, firestorms, etc. Every holiday season, grateful that I didn't have to use the canned goods, I donate them to the collection box set up at my local post office. Not giving to the needy is NOT on my list of political statements.

... is CostCo, a major Dem contributor! :)

You're like me -- I keep a well-stocked pantry for emergencies and each time I rotate my stock those stores go the the food pantry. Also, since I'm an avid coupon clipper, when I get one of those "buy one, get one free" coupons I somtimes donate the extra item to the food bank (we've a small household so we don't need much).

that's what I'm always putting in the food pantry box drives at work. :D

:)

at the checkout counter to fund food charities. It can be as little as one dollar. They just add it on to your total. It's a good way to donate when you shop.

They have an identical drive, "Check Out Hunger", in my neck of the woods (NYC metro area).

It's a fairly large chain of grocery stores mostly in the San Antonio area.

... for which people bring in canned and dry goods along with the weekly collection.

However, this year, I think I'm going to suggest to my wife that we go out and get some $50-100 worth of goods to donate just for the holiday season.

The latest view by a few DU'ers is that giving to any charity is enabling the Republicans. Sure, some of the big charities are suspect; investigation reveals the good ones. And neighborhood food banks are some of the best.

Perhaps we've got a new set of disruptors, posing as a parody of elitist yuppie scum, driving by in their SUV's with Sierra Club bumper stickers. They get to save money while looking down their noses at their inferiors.

believing that anyone can be that ignorant. It is a choice to justify being both greedy and stingy. From what I've read on here this morning, I am encouraged by the majority, but I could fucking puke when I see the hatred expressed by another person.

When I'm out on the street corner begging for food (a prospect that is not that unrealistic for me right now) I'll make sure to wear my "I voted for Kerry" t-shirt.

If I can find one on the clearance rack at Goodwill.

That is about the time the wealthy people who donated to get the big tax write-off started getting the big Bush tax cuts! I saw that coming! Is project UFO still up and running in the Charleston area? PM me if you want and we'll chat about it!

If you have a local Head Start program, you can call the supervisor that oversees their Family Services component and arrange through them to give food to those families that live below the poverty level. Each Thanksgiving, a group of us gives 10 turkeys and all of the trimmings to 10 families with children in Head Start. If you have a large Head Start program in your area with several centers, you can take the food to their main office and their Family Service Specialists can deliver the meals for you.

You'd be surprised at the number of poor families who would rather go without than go to a Food Bank for help.

Thanks very much!

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I try to help out all I can during the holidays. We seem to have an influx of undomiciled folks in the winter (warm weather).

... God bless you

Our parish hosts a food bank, and our client list has increased 30% in just one year. Thank to our a grant from our diocese, we are still able to meet the needs of those who come to us for help, but not every place is so lucky.

We MUST help feed, clothe and shelter those among us who are in need, at a minimum. We cannot depend upon the Bush administration for help. Instead of buying a lot of gifts this Christmas, esepcially for adults in your family, etc., why not make a donation to your local food pantry in their name instead?

Peace.

:hi:

in our neck o' the woods.
He said that our neighborhood gave LOTS more the the rich areas.
I live in a lower middle class area.
We ALWAYS give to the food drives.
And we can't really afford to, but it just ain't right that folks are hungry.
Heck, we could have went awhile ago, but with the help of family, we got through.

meal programs.

It's heartbreaking to see that most of the requests from adults are for grocery store gift certificates!

www.secondharvest.org

www.thehungersite.com