September: Let's really make something of

After a restful holiday weekend, I woke up Tuesday morning in a rush to get out the door, realizing how much work needed to be done to get the paper out on schedule. Skipping breakfast and heading into work, hunger slowly started to get the better of me. By 11 a.m., I had lost most of my concentration and gusto to get things done. Although I did have food in the fridge, for some reason I didn’t want to eat until the clock struck the appropriate noon hour.

At 11:45 a.m. I was just too hungry and caved in. I went to grab my lunch — a tossed chef’s salad with lunch meat and cheese and a small side of rice. As I sat down at my desk to read up on local events, my phone rang. It was Jeanne Benitez the manager for Annual Giving from Ventura County’s FOOD Share. Before I could take one bite of my salad, Benitez started sharing with me some of the harsh realities of Ventura’s hunger problem.

The main reason for her call, however, was that Benitez wanted to inform me that this year America’s Second Harvest known now as Feeding America, which is the country’s network of 200 food banks, switched Hunger Action Day, which formerly occurred in June, to Hunger Action Month, now in September. Benitez said the problem with hunger is so overwhelming that trying to conquer the problem on a single day is simply not enough.

While the thought of those who enter food banks brings to mind the homeless and jobless, Benitez said that isn’t really what is going on. Of the 38,000 people FOOD Share provides meals for everyday in Ventura County, nearly 13,000 of them are children, who have no choice in the matter of what or how they are fed, and another 13,000 are the elderly living on a fixed income, many of whom once provided for us as our parents. The tradition of the children taking care of their parents has been left behind.

Besides the young and elderly, other surprising statistics came to light. Benitez told me that some 300 military families are also dependent on FOOD Share when their spouses get shipped overseas since half of their income goes with them. She also said the percentage of lower and middle-class families who need food— some of them who are working two or three jobs — has been on the rise by 6 - 8 percent each month for the last several months.

Unfortunately, donations are down as well. While food or financial donations used to range around $65 per gift, because of the lack of rations, FOOD Share food gifts are down to about $47 per gift.

She said that during the course of the last year, FOOD Share fed nearly 100,000 needy individuals and families, equating to about one in eight people who needed assistance.

For Benitez, she hopes that this month, especially, people will come out of the woodwork to help those in need across Ventura County.

As we kept chatting, the irony was starting to sink in. Listening to all the sad statistics, I was living it on a meaningless but poignant scale — my own hunger. I couldn’t imagine working hard for a living, trying to raise my son, yet somehow not having enough money to buy just the basic necessities of life — food. Despite the helpless and hardworking individuals, old mentalities still exist in our country: “They should just fend for themselves!” or “It isn’t my fault they are poor. … I would just be enabling them to be dependent if I donated anything to help them!”

Even as I write these crazy quotes, it is hard for me to believe anyone wouldn’t want to give back. Even as hunger creeps up on me again as my lunch digests, I can’t help but wonder why anyone who could help wouldn’t help those who try for independence. They work, and they just can’t get enough money together to feed their families.

On behalf of FOOD Share, I encourage you to try something different this month: Instead of eating out for lunch, make a lunch at home for every work day this month, and instead of pocketing your savings, give it to FOOD Share. Take a box to work, and start your own canned food drive. FOOD Share will pick up the collection at the end of the month. Pick those extra oranges and apples off the trees in your yard and drop them off at FOOD Share. They will even glean your fruit trees if requested.

It’s nearly impossible to ignore your own hunger; think about all those who have to! It’s just one month to change your routine and give something back. I know I have plenty of food that just sits on my shelves, going nowhere. For the sake of those with growling tummies, do something that makes a few a little more comfortable this month. Give to FOOD Share for Hunger Action Month!

For more information or to hold a food drive, call Jeanne Benitez at (805) 983-7100 ext. 122. FOOD Share is a regional food bank that allocates food for more than 100 nonprofits and charities that disburse to tens of thousands of families across Ventura County.