Jill Smokler, AKA Scary Mommy
@scarymommy
Latest posts by Jill Smokler, AKA Scary Mommy (see all)
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With so much horrific stuff going on all over the world, it’s easy to forget the unfortunate stuff that happens right here at home. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17.2 million children are at risk of hunger across the nation. Healthy food, a basic human need and something we all take for granted, is not available one in four American children. Children! As a mother, I find that pretty staggering.
In an effort to draw attention to this issue, I’ve joined ConAgra Foods’ Child Hunger Ends Here™ campaign. In the coming months I’ll be learning more about the childhood hunger and sharing it with you guys.
Want to help? Here are some easy things you can do:
• Go Grocery Shopping – From March through May 2011, ConAgra Foods will embark on its largest branded initiative to fight child hunger in the United States. Consumers can purchase select ConAgra Foods brands and, when they enter their code online, the company will donate one meal to Feeding America – up to 2.5 million meals this during the time period.
• Text to Donate – Make a financial contribution to Feeding America through a mobile giving campaign. Simply text “FEEDKIDS” to 50555 to make a $10 donation directly to Feeding America through June 30, 2011.
• Follow – You can get more information on the child hunger issue by following ConAgra Foods on Facebook and Twitter.
Tonight, (March 19) in select markets, “Child Hunger Ends Here: A Special Report,” will premiere on NBC. Hosted by Al Roker and Natalie Morales. It will highlight the personal stories of families struggling with hunger and showcasing how Americans can work together to tackle this issue. You can also participate in an online event by following #ChildHungerEndsHere on Twitter.
{I’m being compensated by ConAgra to serve as a blogger correspondent on this campaign.}
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
When I had my husband arrested for sexually abusing my children a few years ago, we joined those statistics. I was 3 months pregnant with my 5th child and had not been allowed access to our money, a job, a drivers’ license, or even the telephone. As soon as he was out of the house, I was faced with thousands of dollars worth of past-due bills of which I had not been aware. Within a month, we were evicted from our home and forced to live with an abusive family member who believed the kids and I were entitled only to her leftovers and housework. The day of the eviction, I woke up with a hemorrhage that had me on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. I could not get public assistance, because I could not prove my income (or lack thereof), and there was no room in any shelter in a quad-county area for a family of our size. So we ate small amounts of mostly unhealthy foods once a day. And we all went to bed teary-eyed and hungry each night.
Starvation sucks! (Homelessness does, too.) While I applaud the efforts of everyone who strives to “end hunger,” I’d like to suggest that we open our eyes and hearts to those around us. Most of these campaigns take food to the inner city, to shelters and soup kitchens, to schools and various other places where children are being fed. But what about those that have no access to those services? What about the kids, like mine were, who live in suburban and rural areas and are not yet old enough for the public school system? Who is going to feed them?
(Please *don’t* take this personally, or as a criticism of your attempt to do good. Please *do* think about other ways in which you might reach the hungry in your own community, the ones who might not know where to go for help. Thanks.)
kp recently posted..Fill In the Blank Friday
I feel for you and your family, and I truly pray that the worst is far behind you, with only great blessings to come in the future. May you always be a guiding light to your children and through your strength, may the discover their own.
The Baby Mama recently posted..Guess where I am
Thank you! Life has gotten and will get much better, because God is awesome =) I only hope that one day our story will enable us to help others in similar situations.
kp recently posted..Fill In the Blank Friday
Thanks for utilizing your ability to reach a large audience for assistance desperately needed. As KP noted, there’s plenty of help needed all over.
ChiMomWriter recently posted..Magical DVDs Don’t Make Your Baby a Genuis
Wow, I had no idea that many children went hungry on a regular basis. I applaud your efforts to raise awareness on this issue. Hopefully, we can help those in our own back yard!
Mom Went Crazy recently posted..What Mom Knows
this conversation just boils my blood. Me, my mom and sister donate many hours a week at a church soup kitchen… happy dio do so:) Ibe would be amazed at the folks tha demande “seconds” and more. We put in untold hours preparing for their families meals. And often deplete our own pantries for their benifit. Not to mention petrol getting to and from . That said? It’s a labor of love”) Truly.
Bravo to you for spreading the word. It’s amazing that so many people still don’t grasp the depth of poverty that exists right here. The wealth in the country is mind-boggling, while other kids don’t have places to sleep or food to eat. And the downturn in the economy has made it so much worse. Hopefully, many people will see this post and take action.
I wish to thank Al Roker production company and Con-Agra foods for this very accurate account.My family survives on the foods gotten from one of the food banks shown in the documentry. We are treated with respect and understanding when we visit. Many thanks to the people that donate and volunteer. Much more is needed in the forms of fresh vegetables, fruits and fresh milk for all families that are in need. THANKS AGAIN
Though it’s great that NBC is bringing the issue of the childhood hunger epidemic to their viewers’ attention it brings up the question of why didn’t NBC ask what needed to be asked at the end of the program and instead pretend like people donating $10 or $15 to some food bank is going to accomplish much of anything? NBC carefully avoided the hard questions that the hunger epidemic in America raises.
For instance why is it that in the so-called richest country in the world this is even an issue? More to the point, why don’t we have a government that cares about people who AREN’T business owners, you know, the average working people in this country struggling to make ends meet and who couldn’t dream of having enough money to buy a brand new car let alone open their own business so they can exploit OTHERS? In other words, why don’t we have a government that mandates a federal minimum wage that (gasp!) a person can actually afford to LIVE on? Because $7.25/hour is so far out of touch with reality as to be comical if it weren’t causing so much starvation and misery. Nobody anywhere in this country, not even in dirt-poor Alabama, can afford to support himself let alone raise a family on $7.25/hour. Yet businesses don’t legally have to pay their workers a penny more than this rate (with the few exceptions being a handful of states where the minimum wage is actually slightly higher than this, for example a still-laughable $8/hour.) Google “living wage calculator” to see what the living wage is in your area. In no place in the U.S. is a living wage below $12-something/hour for a single man with no kids. How about a government that has enough guts to tell business owners large and small that they will now start paying their workers a living wage? That if they want to keep their business license they will have to pay their employees at least $12-something an hour with the new minimum wage pegged to inflation so that if the dollar loses for example 10% of its value next year then the workers’ wages go up by 10% to compensate?
That would be the beginning of making America into something worth actually being proud of instead of being a byword among nations and a glaring example of how NOT to run a country. Because as it stands now the U.S. is a sick joke played on every single one of us who wasn’t born into a billionaire family. It’s the land of opportunity, but only if you already HAVE opportunities, only if you already ARE wealthy whereas it’s nothing but the land of wage slavery for the rest of us not fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon up our rear end.
Let’s dispense with the bandaids on arterial bleeding which is what do-nothing “solutions” like asking people for $10 or $15 donations for food banks amount to and start eliminating the REASON working people have to rely on food banks in the first place.
Child hunger is definitely a worthy cause. It’s quite like you to support it.
Megan (Best of Fates) recently posted..Which Historical Figure Would You Punch First
Thanks for enlightening your readers to the issue of child hunger in America and I appreciate your opening sentences of identifying the bad things that happen which makes this constant issue something that is easy to ignore.
Dan Michel
Feeding America
I am so glad you’re highlighting this issue – as a mom, this is the one that I find most intolerable. And…I had been wondering the best method of going about helping – thank you!
The Flying Chalupa recently posted..Subterranean Homesick Blues
Good for you, Jill, bringning attention to this issue. I do what I can to help out by donating to local food banks and things like that, but there is always so much more we can be doing!
My daughter has been telling me that her friend has is hungry as school. She has trail mix, a granola bar and marshmallows every day for lunch (according to my daughter) nothing to drink. She says her mother says it costs too much. I am extremely concerned. She shared her lunch with her today and she says she ate it. What should I do.?
That’s so sad. :( I would think a good place to start would be the school– is there a guidance counselor you can talk to? Maybe they can step in?
Sorry for the typos…should have proofed my typing.
That’s a really good idea. Thanks so much.