That’s right take care of your old people because they spent years taking care of YOU. The US government reported last week that one in seven Americans struggled to get enough food to eat. Beyond that; the number of seniors who sought help from food pantries last year increased by 81%.  More alarming is the number of seniors who don’t eat the right types of food or enough food. In Oklahoma; the regional food bank provides help to those many consider the most vulnerable in their state – their senior citizens.

When asked how the Senior Feeding program helped Oklahoma senior citizens this year, seniors responded:

• “It helps me from going hungry.”
• “It helps a lot since it comes at the end of the month when I am out of food. I appreciate the help.”
• “It made the difference between eating every day of the month and having to skip meals, or eating as little as a hot dog for the entire day.”

I’m sure you are just as alarmed as I was by this information. Like you I have parent’s, grandparent’s, aunties, uncles and well people who I just care for and you can be sure I am going to check in and make sure they are getting what they need when they need it. There are services out there for people who need it and they should take advantage of it.  There are lots of volunteer opportunities for those that want to help those that are hungry at www.serve.org

Don’t let your people become a part of a nasty statistic or worse yet don’t learn there is a problem when it’s too late.

Take care of Your People.

Have you ever gone hungry?  I mean so hungry that it hurts?  I would bet you haven’t and that when you say “I’m starving” you really don’t know what it feels like or perhaps what that phrase really means.  And that my friend is a blessing and my hope for you is that you never go hungry. However this year alone 35.5 million AMERICAN’S go hungry every day and what’s even more frightening is with the change in economy those who are going hungry could be your next door neighbor.

So what can you do?  Feed a family this Thanksgiving holiday.   Bringing Hope to the Table is a program that Kroger Food is hosting where they are selling recyclable bags- the proceeds go to feeding the hungry. Grocery stores across the country are making it easier than ever to help out. Stores have prepackaged bags of food that you can purchase for as little as $10.00 and they take care of the actual donation of food. To find a program for your specific city try searching on Google for these “phrases”

Food Drives 2009                         Canned Food Drives

Thanksgiving Food Donations        Food Bank Donation

Remember anything you do small or large will make a large impact.  The statistics are staggering, and we can make a difference.  

For 1 in 8 people in our country, hunger is a reality.

• 35 million Americans don’t know where they will get their next meal. 
• 9 million of them are children.
• 3 million of them are senior citizens.
• 36% of these households have one or more working adults.
• 42% of these households are in rural and suburban areas.

What if this holiday season you consider donating to your favorite charity. Instead of giving gifts to friends, family and co-workers I guarantee the person/charity that receives your donation really needs it…and more importantly will appreciate it. Over the next few weeks I will be gathering donation suggestions and posting them. If you have a suggestions please send them my way via Twitter, Email, LinkedIn or comment to the blog today!