According to the World Hunger Education Service, "In 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States".
In the last day or so, some of our fellow Kossacks have told us about this first-hand:
Confessions of a Retail Worker
A Kossack is Unlurking
I Haz a Sad
In this time of feasting, there are hungry.
Lord of Feasting and of Hunger
Lord of feasting and of hunger; give us eyes to see your bread in the miracle of wonder, till all tables will be fed.
See the silent ones who wait when the blessing seems too late.
Lord of seed and Lord of harvest, turn the desert into bloom; purify the sky and forest, give your wisdom; send it soon.
See the silent ones who wait when the blessing seems too late.
Lord of storm and heat and danger, deep inside and high above, break into all fear and anger, till you reign the earth in love,
See the silent ones who wait when the blessing seems too late.
Lord of taking and of giving, give us back our dignity; in our universal living, break down all inequity.
See the silent ones who wait when the blessing seems too late. –Herbert F. Brokering
When I was little, my parents sometimes gave up eating so they could feed my sister and me. They gave up eating, so the gas/electric bills could be paid. Silently.
The following agencies help those who are hungry:
Feeding America
Society of St. Andrew—aka, St. Andrew’s Potato Project
Heifer Project