Food Pantries Needing Donations

For quite a number of years now, food pantries across the country have been needing more donations. This year has been especially trying for food pantries.

Demand at food pantries and soup kitchens continues to increase even as financial experts predict the economy is turning around. WNYC’s Cindy Rodriguez visited a food program in Brooklyn and has this report.

REPORTER: St. John’s Bread and Life serves mostly the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bed Stuy and Bushwick. Anthony Butler runs the programs and says demand at the soup kitchen, which serves many homeless adults, increased 19 percent while demand at the food pantry increased 50 percent:

BUTLER: With the downturn in the economy that’s what hit the food pantry folks, because those were people formerly working or their social security isn’t going as far as it did.

I have been involved with various pantries over the years (both as a donor and a recipient), and food pantries are one of the blessings of living in this country. Americans are so generous; our country is very prosperous– so prosperous that we feed a good portion of the world from our abundance, as well as provide everything from freedom of speech to online life insurance in this nation! America is a blessed country and I am so grateful to be an American.

While I am not against state-run government help programs, I think the best kind of program is that which is run by churches and small groups. So I ask you to please consider those who have needs, especially at this time of the year. Please donate food or goods out of your abundance; or if you have abundant time or energy, donate your skills or visit a senior citizen’s home or something. And God bless you for it!