What can one person do?

Sculptures built from donated food put hunger message in the spotlight

Note in the story that the goal was to collect 150,000 pounds of food, but they fell far short.

It's good to see people being creative and active with the issue.

Homeless Fair in Torrington

It was reported in the March 8th edition of the Republican-American that "a daylong event planned for May will provide a variety of resources, from medical services, housing and employment assistance to bicycle and wheelchair repair for the area's homeless."

I will see what I can find out about this and maybe we can gather up a crew to help out.

More to follow...

Local people help the homeless

Night Walk

Thanks to Steve Gwilt for passing this along to me...

Read about the "Night Walk" in Chicago, which gives teenagers a reality check as to what it is like to be a homeless teen. The article cites that Chicago has 10,000 (yes - four zeros there) between the ages of 12 and 21 who have no place to live, and that, in the U.S., the average age of a homeless person is 9. Shocking.

Youth experience 'night walk' as homeless teen

Also check out the website for The Night Ministry for some insightful information about common social issues.

Another wonderful article by Susan Campbell about the Food Stamp Program

I'm One of the Lucky - My Hunger Ends Tuesday

Last week's poll

Last week we had three (3) people respond to our poll, and 2 people donated 7+ food items last week, and 1 person donated 1-6.

Beginning in the month of April we will be totalling up the church's food donations every week and I will let you know just how well we are doing with our donations. The Food Stamp Program has led me to see first-hand just how important it is to keep our food pantries in town stocked all year (not just during the holidays!)

If I had a "wish list" of items I would like to see at the Food Pantries, it would look something like this:
- Grapefruit juice
- Coffee
- Canned fruits
- A variety of jellies/jams/preserves (they always sell some neat ones at TJMaxx!)
- Gravy to put on mashed potatoes
- Progresso soups (after awhile the colors and tastes of foods that have "variety" are like a dream come true!)
- Jarred "stuff" to make some nice salads (marinated mushrooms, eggplant, etc.) so that if you wanted to have a special dinner to commemorate something, you could do it without using a quarter of your food budget.

These are just a few of the things that would really make my mouth water when I went shopping - things that I will add to my cart from now on when I go shopping for my food donations!

Final days of the Food Stamp Program

I am at the end of my month of living on $3.00 per day, and it hasn't been easy!

I didn't go food shopping for the final week; my daughter's 16th birthday was on 3/21 and I wanted to be able to go out for dinner with her and her friends. That was $10.00. I spent the other $11.00 on a chicken to roast for Easter, some apples to make a pie, a can of corn, and a jar of gravy. I was fortunate to have some potatoes left over from the previous weeks' shopping.

I haven't had any juice or milk for over a week, which I have really missed.

I will post some "final thoughts" after I reflect upon my experience.

Stay tuned!

Scary statistic

Found this article re: Ohio's food stamp program.

Food stamps double since '01

Third World Farmer Interactive Game

Play this game to try your hand at being a third world farmer and earning income for your family by farming amidst harsh conditions.

Walk Against Hunger

The 3rd annual Walk Against Hunger in Waterbury will take place on Sunday, April 27th. Registration begins at 1 pm in Library Park, and walking begins at 2:00 pm. I would love to start a teacm for this, and I will do all of the preliminary leg-work (no pun intended!) but I can't participate on the actual day because I'll be performing in Li'l Abner that afternoon at the Goshen Players.

Please e-mail me if you would be interested in participating.

"Fill the Truck" Donations Increase

At a recent meeting of the Fill the Truck Ministry Team it was reported by Ted Barlow that he has seen an increase in recent weeks of donations of food. I will try to report what the actual donations were on a month-to-month basis from here on.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

"Food for Your Neighbor Campaign" Winds Down

Kudos to the Torrington High School Junior ROTC for their help with United Way's program.

As you might have heard on the radio or in the newspaper, the donations were down this year as the need increased...more proof that our "Fill the Truck" ministry will be put to good use in the community.

Shopping List for Week #3

Week #2

Take a quiz on poverty

Poverty is also one of those "hidden" issues in our society; how much do you know about it?

Check out this quiz, and browse the site that offers it.

POVERTY QUIZ

There's Still Time to Sign Up To Be Hungry - And Poor

Here's a piece written by Susan Campbell that will give you some background info about the Food Stamp Project.

Buy 1/Get 2 at Big Y this week!

Look through your circular for the Torrington Big Y this week for some terrific specials. If one of the B1/G2 items includes one that you have on your list, make your purchase and consider donating the "free" items to our mission.

Poll results for Week of 2/18 - 2/24

With one whopping vote the average donation was 5 food items for the week. Using this total, if 10 households donated 5 items each, that would be 50 food items that would go to the area pantries. My goal is to inspire people who don't normally donate to think of our mission every week on shopping day and to add some donation items to their cart as they bee-bop through the grocery store! Even one item is helpful!

Weekly poll

To the right of these postings, you will see a weekly poll. I am interested in seeing if the donation trend changes (for better or worse) throughout the year. Please take the time to log on each week and click on the appropriate button.

Shopping List for Week #1

Here is what my first week's shopping list looks like...nothing fancy, that's for sure:

You will note that the only meat/fish I was able to afford was the ground beef and tuna. (I had to give back one of the cans of tuna!) Was the gum a necessity? Perhaps not, but in the past it has taken hunger pangs away. I'm glad now that I bought it! As of today I still have most of the eggs left and the ground beef; so maybe next week I will be able to afford some cheese and sauce and make some pasta & meatballs. I bet you it will taste better than it has ever tasted before!