“I’m starving!” How many times have you heard people casually say these words as they consider their next meal? The availability of food just seems so automatic, as dinner follows lunch and lunch follows breakfast. But what if there is no automatic “next meal”?
Too many of us take food for granted. We only think of hunger in vague and abstract terms, believing it to be the province of children with swollen bellies in sweltering places a world away. Yes, hunger is a global epidemic. And, it’s also a silent epidemic in our country.
The nature of hunger is different in the United States and it's too common. There are millions of Americans who are impacted by hunger. In 2005, over 25 million Americans sought food assistance from America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network.
Hunger can be hidden and hard to detect. That’s because your hungry friends, neighbors and colleagues are too proud to tell you. There they are, nonetheless, quietly seeking assistance from the many hundreds of local hunger-relief agencies we supply. Their hunger may have been triggered by the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. Indeed, many of us are just one “bad break” away from hunger’s devastating reach.
Here’s the tragic irony. There’s plenty of food out there. It’s always been a question of getting enough of it through political and economic obstacles and into the mouths of hungry people.
Crossroads Community Church is seeking to do their part in helping to meet the needs of the hungry. We provide food and clothing to those in need of assistance once a month on a Saturday morning at 9:00 A.M. For more information about this ministry, please call the church office.
