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Health & Fitness

Food For Thought

We all need a little help once in awhile. More than anything, help provides hope.

I was at work and it was well past noon. My stomach was not saying very nice things, so I figured I’d better quiet it down before my coworkers started wondering where the cat was that was making that noise.

Once I decided to pull out my lunch, I was disappointed at what I had brought to eat.  It was just a ham sandwich, some potato chips and a yogurt cup. 

I’ve never experienced prolonged hunger. I’ve never experienced not having a lunch to eat. I’ve never looked in my refrigerator or my pantry and not had anything to choose from. It occurred to me, after I unwrapped that sandwich and opened my bottle of water, that things haven’t been so good for a number of people in the last few years. 

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I was forgetting how many people had lost their jobs. I was forgetting that there are people who have to choose between paying an electric bill and buying food for dinner. I was forgetting that there are people who have to send their kids to school with the only food that was left in their cabinets that day.

I don’t think the people who looked at those empty cabinets would be disappointed to have what I had in my lunch today. 

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Wow, this was a lot to think of in a lunch hour, but sometimes you can get so caught up in your own world that you forget to look around and see where you can make a difference.

So here’s my attempt.

Because I work in a public position, I have avoided using my Blog to advertise one benefit or fundraiser over another. I’m still new to this whole thing and I’m not quite sure just how to navigate it yet. The last thing that I would want is to come off preachy.

But the hunger issue hit close to home. I know people who have had to look to a food pantry to feed their kids. I imagined what it would be like if I walked into that Food Pantry looking for help and there was practically nothing on the shelves for me to take home to my family. I would be out of options.

Hunger follows people who are living with it every day. A Food Pantry can provide more than just food, it also gives hope. It says someone cares. It gives you a place to go.

Our local Food Pantries have been overworked and under stocked.  There are so many people that need their help right now and they just can’t keep up with the demand. 

“I walked through the Orland Food Pantry with the Boy Scouts and the shelves are just empty,”  Rob Wehmeier, owner of Wehmeier Portraits, sadly told me.  “There’s just nothing on the shelves!  We just really need to remind people that hunger doesn’t go away after the Holidays.”

Rob's is one of several fundraisers that are trying to do just that.

There are lots of options for you if this Blog is speaking to you to make a difference:  Together We Cope (www.togetherwecope.com) and Orland Township Food Pantry (www.orlandtwp.org) to name a couple.  It really doesn’t matter who you give to, just give, if you can.  Trust me, the people who need the help will just be grateful that you gave.

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