Today, first let me say that anyone can feed the hungry. Your faith, your background, your gender, your sexual identity, your race, your age, your socioeconomic background... none of those things hinder you from being called to feed the hungry. It's not a Christian/Muslim/Hindu/Jewish/Buddhist/etc problem. It's not an un/educated problem. It's not a male/female problem. It's not a gay/bisexual/transgender/straight problem. It's not a white/black/brown/yellow/green problem. It's not a young/old problem. It's not a poor/wealthy problem. This is a worldwide problem that we absolutely have the ability to transform and we are all a part of this world.
For me, my faith was the first thing to convict me to feed the hungry. I simply cannot call myself a Christian or claim to be a follower of Christ if I do not care for those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless or oppressed. That is my interpretation of my faith, my calling. So, from where do I make these conclusions? Scripture.
First, if I am made in the Lord's image, to do His will, I take special notice in the nature of God's character.
Psalm 146:6-8 - He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
There are demands for the care of those who are hungry in Proverbs.
Proverbs 25:21 - If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
The prophet Isaiah gives us an example of fasting for the Lord.
Isaiah 58:6-7 - “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
And also gives the Lord's reply to such fasting:
Isaiah 58:9b-11 - “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
And probably the most powerful scripture on hunger is when Jesus is sharing about the separation of sheep (those who knew Him) from goats (those whom He did not know). It pretty much speaks for itself, but our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is putting Himself into the flesh and likeness of those worth nothing to society.
Matthew 25:31-46 - “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
"whatever you did for the least of these..., you did for me."
#HungerActionMonth
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Hunger Action Month - Days 4, 5, 6 - Working Together
#HungerActionMonth - I missed a couple days, so I want to post about three organizations I believe are fighting the good fight against hunger. All of these programs supply food for food pantries and soup kitchens.
Feeding America - feedingamerica.org - This is a national organization with foodbanks in almost all metropolitan areas including both NYC and Grand Rapids, MI. It provides low-cost or free goods to participating soup kitchens and food pantries.
City Harvest - c...ityharvest.org - This is a local NYC organization that collects 50 million pounds annually of produce and good food from restaurants, grocers, farms, and manufacturers, which would otherwise go to waste. They provide us with everything from carrots and frozen pizzas to coffee creamer and pretzels, all for free.
Rock and Wrap It Up - rockandwrapitup.org - This is also a local NYC organization. It collects leftover food from concerts, shows, movie and television productions and more, and then redistributes to soup kitchens for use in their programs. We've received trays of food from productions like Law and Order:SVU, Gotham, Boardwalk Empire and several movies - all for free and all delicious, catered food.
So, for many of us, yesterday was payday? Want an easy way to participate in #HungerActionMonth? Go to one of the above websites and throw in $10. It's not much, no, but it probably won't hurt your budget much and for these organization, $10 can go a long way. City Harvest even claims to be able to provide 40 New Yorkers with food for only $10. Hot diggity dog, that's $0.40/person. Not a bad deal, right?
Feeding America - feedingamerica.org - This is a national organization with foodbanks in almost all metropolitan areas including both NYC and Grand Rapids, MI. It provides low-cost or free goods to participating soup kitchens and food pantries.
City Harvest - c...ityharvest.org - This is a local NYC organization that collects 50 million pounds annually of produce and good food from restaurants, grocers, farms, and manufacturers, which would otherwise go to waste. They provide us with everything from carrots and frozen pizzas to coffee creamer and pretzels, all for free.
Rock and Wrap It Up - rockandwrapitup.org - This is also a local NYC organization. It collects leftover food from concerts, shows, movie and television productions and more, and then redistributes to soup kitchens for use in their programs. We've received trays of food from productions like Law and Order:SVU, Gotham, Boardwalk Empire and several movies - all for free and all delicious, catered food.
So, for many of us, yesterday was payday? Want an easy way to participate in #HungerActionMonth? Go to one of the above websites and throw in $10. It's not much, no, but it probably won't hurt your budget much and for these organization, $10 can go a long way. City Harvest even claims to be able to provide 40 New Yorkers with food for only $10. Hot diggity dog, that's $0.40/person. Not a bad deal, right?
Hunger Action Month - Day 3 - Serving
I have to admit something to all of you: my favorite part of living with my partner is that I get to cook for him. Tonight's menu is turkey burgers, corn on the cob, and crispy potatoes. So good. I can't wait to serve it to him when he gets home.
What about you? Do you like cooking? Do you like serving people in larger groups? Our program serves groups of 15, 30, 50 and 150... all through the skill and will of volunteers. If you like to cook, chop vegetables, serve oth...ers, even clean up, consider spending a few hours at your local soup kitchen. Even the smallest of towns has at least one - it may be a prayer breakfast for teens, an afterschool dinner program for kids, once week at a local church or a full on meal served at noon every single day. Give a few hours a day, a week, a month... it will make a difference and you'll be participating in #HungerActionMonth
What about you? Do you like cooking? Do you like serving people in larger groups? Our program serves groups of 15, 30, 50 and 150... all through the skill and will of volunteers. If you like to cook, chop vegetables, serve oth...ers, even clean up, consider spending a few hours at your local soup kitchen. Even the smallest of towns has at least one - it may be a prayer breakfast for teens, an afterschool dinner program for kids, once week at a local church or a full on meal served at noon every single day. Give a few hours a day, a week, a month... it will make a difference and you'll be participating in #HungerActionMonth
Hunger Action Month - Day 2 - Clean Out Your Freezer
Did you know that food pantries, while preferring non-perishables, will also accept frozen foods? Many have at least one freezer and at least one fridge available for food. So, take a look at your freezer. Check out the content - please don't donate if it's freezer burned. But do you really need 10 packages of frozen spinach when you haven't cooked even 1 since February? I'm going to guess that answer is "no." It was just on a good sale and you w...ere TRYING to eat healthy. I get it. However, someone else may really benefit from it. It's not trash, it's just allowing food to get used instead of buried by ice build-up.
Or remember those soups that kids sold as a fundraiser? Yeah, CHAOS kids sold them every year. And you bought them every year because golly gee, they looked and sounded delicious on paper. And then they arrived and you were never really in the mood for soup. Guess what? Those soups are great meals for our homeless populations living in hotels or on the streets. They can be heated in a microwave without many utensils (can opener, pot/pan, etc)! I know that if our pantry got a huge donation of them, our clients would be ecstatic!
Clean out your freezer today and participate in #HungerActionMonth.
Or remember those soups that kids sold as a fundraiser? Yeah, CHAOS kids sold them every year. And you bought them every year because golly gee, they looked and sounded delicious on paper. And then they arrived and you were never really in the mood for soup. Guess what? Those soups are great meals for our homeless populations living in hotels or on the streets. They can be heated in a microwave without many utensils (can opener, pot/pan, etc)! I know that if our pantry got a huge donation of them, our clients would be ecstatic!
Clean out your freezer today and participate in #HungerActionMonth.
Hunger Action Month - Day 1
For the next month, I have committed to posting on Facebook about Hunger Action Month. I want to also share these posts here for those who may not have Facebook or may have missed the posts. I have some catching up to do, so I hope you won't mind multiple posts in one day, but here you go!
September is Hunger Action Month. Each day this month, I'm going to post about hunger and issues surrounding it. Not only because it's my current career, but also because it's a basic human right to have access to food.
Today, I ate. I had cereal for breakfast. Not a name brand, but similar to honey nut cheerios and cold milk. I had Doritos topped with shredded mozzarella cheese melted in the microwave. My boyfriend and I went out for froyo. We made a delicious dinner ...of marinated chicken breast and carmelized broccoli.
Every day, my program feeds people who simply don't have access to anything I ate today. We only give out UHT milk (shelf-stable), never chips, never cheese, never chicken breast (unless donated) and broccoli? Yeah right. Forget the marinades, the oils, the salt... and in a city in which 1.4 million people RELY on food pantries and soup kitchens, i cannot imagine not having access to the food I ate today. Can you?
Can I challenge you? Take a look at your pantries. Think about something you think would be a treat for people in hard times - oil, flour, seasonings, frozen meats, minute rice, good cold and hot cereals, etc. Next time you purchase it, purchase an extra to donate to your local food pantry. It could be something as simple as a head of broccoli, but it could make someone's day.
September is Hunger Action Month. Each day this month, I'm going to post about hunger and issues surrounding it. Not only because it's my current career, but also because it's a basic human right to have access to food.
Today, I ate. I had cereal for breakfast. Not a name brand, but similar to honey nut cheerios and cold milk. I had Doritos topped with shredded mozzarella cheese melted in the microwave. My boyfriend and I went out for froyo. We made a delicious dinner ...of marinated chicken breast and carmelized broccoli.
Every day, my program feeds people who simply don't have access to anything I ate today. We only give out UHT milk (shelf-stable), never chips, never cheese, never chicken breast (unless donated) and broccoli? Yeah right. Forget the marinades, the oils, the salt... and in a city in which 1.4 million people RELY on food pantries and soup kitchens, i cannot imagine not having access to the food I ate today. Can you?
Can I challenge you? Take a look at your pantries. Think about something you think would be a treat for people in hard times - oil, flour, seasonings, frozen meats, minute rice, good cold and hot cereals, etc. Next time you purchase it, purchase an extra to donate to your local food pantry. It could be something as simple as a head of broccoli, but it could make someone's day.
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