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Health & Fitness

It's Just The Neighborly Thing To Do

Kids across the nation are joining together to fill our local food pantries. We can all help. We can count our blessings as we share with our neighbors.

Yesterday, I clicked on a link titled, "Souper Bowl". Seeing the play on words, I assumed the link might connect me to a delicious recipe for this Sunday's game. I'm no Becky Home-Ecky or football afficianado but I'm all for the festivities on the day Americans love to love. If anything, Superbowl Sunday is a sweet reminder of the day we brought our first born baby home from the hospital. Yes, I remember this kind of stuff....not who played or who won.

"Superbowl"....."Souper" Bowl...

The link was to a newspaper article. No recipes, no clever chip or dip ideas and no football statistics. "Souper Bowl of Caring"...students in Westchester, New York who were collecting canned goods for local food pantries. The students had a goal of 50,000 combined canned and boxed foods. 625 students had individual goals of 100 donations each.  The article said it's nationwide, "youth across the nation join together to fight hunger in their communities"

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In Westchester, if the kids reached their goal, they would be well rewarded by the spirit of giving and one more motivating factor....the school administration would give them the day after the Superbowl off. Talk about motivating teenagers!

What a fabulous story. In this economy, everyone is affected in one way or another. I Haven't been able to get this story out of my mind. After that, I heard the statistic that one in four/five children are hungry in the United States of America. Our country. America is associated with abundance.

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I admit that I was overwhelmed by the statistics. Seriously, what could I do to make a difference? I thought of our many blessings and remembered my comment to the friend who shared the link, "What a great idea. Maybe we can help it to catch on."

Today, I took on our home pantry. No small task. If I go to the store without a list, I come home with doubles and triples of what we already have. Too much stuff....like lots of other Americans...even in a tight economy. 

I began to empty the pantry. Systematically at first, then I realized the amount of "extras" we have. I began filling bags. We were overflowing. Truly, it was gross AND ironic that our teenagers can never find anything to eat in our house.

I kept sorting...and sorting. Everytime I go to the store I come home with salad dressing and tomato sauce and soup..."just in case." At the end of the day, a few grocery bags were filled...for the Madison Food Pantry. I was relieved to have done one small thing. I need to do more. Actually, WE all need to do more.

We can make a difference, even if it's one pantry at a time. We can count our blessings as we give. We can do our best to keep our pantry filled and still have plenty to share. No one should not have to worry whether or not they will have dinner on the table. Look at your pantry. How full is it? Share. It's just the neighborly thing to do.

 


Food Pantry
 The food pantry is operated by the Madison Community Services and is available in Madison for those who need the assistance and is located at the First Congregational Church. The food pantry is open on Wednesdays from 11:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. 

Donations to the food pantry are always welcome - please contact Community Services at (203)245-3031.

http://nokidhungry.org/

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