I better learn how to starve the emptiness and feed the hunger - Emily Saliers

In discussion after discussion with some of my more conservative-minded family members, I have often made this argument: sure, if would be great if we could just all "take care of our own" and leave the government out of it when it comes to social/welfare aid. But not everyone has someone to fall back on. And that is, perhaps, where we reach a standstill. Non-profit organizations do what they can and do what they can to fill in the gaps. But, non-profit and government partnership-type organizations, like the food pantries discussed in the following article, are struggling to make ends meet and face the economic challenges that ALL businesses face: rising fuel prices, rising food prices, lack of funds, etc.

This is for your consideration:

When the Cupboard Is Bare
by David Cay Johnston - New York Times Online

REBECCA MUSCARELLO had long worked as a secretary, so she never imagined that at age 35 she would be left with no choice but to take her two children to a food pantry to get groceries. But like a growing number of Americans whose jobs have evaporated in a shrinking economy, Ms. Muscarello ran out of money and then food.

Since the spring, the number of people showing up hungry at food pantries and soup kitchens has surged, straining the capacity of many organizations in the vast, largely unseen and lightly financed network of volunteer emergency feeding operations. Many are newcomers who were reluctant to seek help until they had no choice.

In the four months since June, demand for food aid has risen 20 percent in areas of the country with the healthiest economies and more than 40 percent in areas with the weakest, leaders of nonprofit food-distribution organizations say. And they predict that the need will keep growing in 2009 if the job market continues to contract, as expected. More...