One of the inescapable themes of my writing and tweeting is food—my inability to endure the long haul between breakfast and my 10 AM snack, my fruit leather codependency, and my weakness for any candy you bought with your allowance at age 10, that most grown ups have long forgotten about (Yes, you Gobstoppers! Well okay, Rainblo. Is that you, two-cent Hot Dog gum! I don’t mind if I do, Fizz!)
But I can only joke about food because I can afford to sit around and eat all day. That poor choice is all mine to make! I have never gone hungry. In fact I rarely allow myself that irritating and unnecessary sensation. I come from a long line of frequent feeders—just watch our pincers go.
A parent at school just informed me that the majority—the majority—of families at our neighborhood school make a wage that falls at or below the poverty line. My kids’ classmates are hungry. At school they get free breakfast and lunch, which is good considering one boy in Four’s class showed up with a “candy breakfast” one morning. This is not judging-other-parents time, this is Thank God that federally funded free breakfast and lunch exist time. What happens at dinner? What happens on the weekends? How patient can Mom possibly be if she hasn’t eaten a proper meal all day?
Word magician Jett Superior and Undomesticated Diva are hosting a cause giveaway on their blogs to benefit Feeding America this Thanksgiving Day. After you read Jett’s post, I promise you will want to feed 8 Americans for only $1.00 too.
No more candy breakfasts for growing children. Save the candy breakfasts for people who really need them…Me.
This post is only sponsored by my heart.
Oh, Ann.
Oh Ann thank you so.
Amen.
I just donated and tweeted and FB’d the crap out of it!
Your post really made me think, and while I usually hate being forced to do that, I liked it this time.
So, you know…thank you.
And Happy Thanksgiving.
XOXO
A.
Will donate, tweet, FB:because I know this to be true. I’ve worked with families, as a translator, whose children use tap water on their mornign cereal: no milk in the house.
We all need to care.
Love your heart Ann.
I hate to think of kids going hungry in America (or anywhere for that matter). One of my big issues and THANK YOU for bringing it to light on your site, Ann.
Yes. This is me being serious.
Happy Thanksgiving, friend. xoxo
The school where I work is in a poverty area and the majority of the students live in the projects. School breakfast and lunch are something they look forward to. The other day the counselors told us of a family that was having it rough. Not from the projects but about to be evicted. Electricity turned off. No food in the house. They asked for contributions and a staff of 30 had four huge boxes of groceries and two propane stoves by the next day ; -)
Big sigh– That is a very sad. I’m off to check out the fund raiser. I hope it’s not too late.
xo jj
Donating to the food drive at work. Already have but because of this post, I’m bringing more in tomorrow.
Just donated. Thank you for letting us know about this, Ann. xxoo
You are one lovely lady.
Great reminder and good post. My love is an eligibility worker and responsible for providing hundreds of families with their food stamps and medical coverage every month. She’s an amazing woman. I am not an amazing woman. 🙂
Cheers,
Casey