As we pull up a chair to the table to eat a Thanksgiving meal with our families, we ask our readers to not forget those less fortunate.
As we pull up a chair to the table to eat a Thanksgiving meal with our families, we ask our readers to not forget those less fortunate.
On your way to work or to drop off your children at school, you’ll ride or walk past a line of people (sometimes wrapped around the building) waiting outside a church or a shelter for food giveaways.
Many of our brothers and sisters are without a roof over their heads or enough money to provide a meal for themselves and their families.
That could be you.
According to a recent study by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the face of those who need help feeding themselves and their families have changed to include those in the working class, and poor people suffer from hunger and food insecurity at a disproportionate rate.
Many community organizations, faith-based institutions and corporations hold food drives to feed the needy during holiday time.
Jewel-Osco, in partnership with Frito Lay and Pepsi, recently donated $30,000 to provide nearly 4,000 meals to disadvantaged families throughout Chicago for Thanksgiving. Six social service organizations –– Black on Black Love, Lathrop Homes, Holy Trinity Church, El Hogar del Nino, Hispanic Heritage Organization and River of Life –– benefited from the donation.
Many churches, including New Covenant M.B. Church and New Faith M.B. Church, feed the hungry on a weekly basis.
Have you put a few extra items in your grocery cart each week to donate to a food drive? Have you donated your time at your church or a local shelter to help feed those in need? Are you teaching your children to do the same?
Next time you walk past a box designated for canned goods donations, try to add a little more to the count.
Let’s give thanks for what we have. Let’s give thanks that we’re able to help others.
We’re all family.
Copyright 2011 Chicago Defender
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