49 million Americans hungry for more than change
I don’t always agree with Dennis Kucinich. But when the Congressman from Cleveland is right, he’s right.
A few weeks ago, I caught him on CSPAN. It was a sub-committee hearing on stimulus funds. The Congressman questioned how some in Washington can worry so much about the effect of stimulus policies on Wall Street bankers. But they don’t seem to focus on the impact the downturn is having on regular people.
49 million people are hungry in America, the Congressman told the assembled audience. A few lobbyists nodded earnestly.
Then Congressman Kucinich did the math for the folks in the hearing room, so they didn’t have to dig out their calculators.”That’s 16 percent of Americans. And we’re here talking about bank executives?”
At the holidays, Americans often think about the less fortunate. The great thing about our country is millions of folks step up to help. The difference this year? Many more people are lining up for assistance. There are 13 million more hungry people than there were last year according to USDA. Food pantries are having a tough time keeping up with soaring demand.
5 years ago we decided at Compass to forget the fruit cakes, cut out the cheese logs and honor our clients and colleagues by giving as much as we could to food banks.
We started out by supporting the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
We’ve since added the Capital Area Food Bank. And this year, we’re proud to support the Oregon Food Bank as well.
We’re trying to make an investment in food banks in communities where our clients serve and live. And expand our commitment as the need grows. We started with the goal of 10,000 meals in 2005. This year, we’re hoping to top 35,000 meals.
With hunger skyrocketing, Dennis Kucinich reminded us it’s not only banks on Wall Street that need a helping hand.
For a quirky vegan, he gave us all something meaty to chew on this holiday season.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:53 am
nice idea. happy holidays!