With Thanksgiving at the end of the month, we enter into the holiday season of giving, the time of year Americans most often remember to share with their neighbors in need.
While some tables overflow with plentiful food, hunger and food insecurity (limited ability to access food) continue to affect millions of people all around the world. The United Nations estimated that in 2005, over 16,000 children died every day from hunger-related causes- that's about one child every five seconds!
In America alone, food insecurity has increased from 10.5 percent in 2000 to 11.2 percent of households in 2003, according to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau. The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), reports over 321,000 people in Massachusetts sought food assistance in 2005, and poverty and natural disasters like Katrina are still leaving families hungry.
As college students balancing finances, you may think you have little to spare, but there are a lot of ways to share generously without breaking your budget. Your contributions can make a huge difference - in the local Boston area and around the globe.
LOCALLY
Donate skills, talents, time, labor.. Volunteer at local non-profit agencies, like soup kitchens, food banks, or farms.
Grab some friends and head over to the food bank's headquarters in downtown Boston to help "separate, sort, inspect, and package" food that will be delivered to people at one of over 100 local food pantries or soup kitchens supported by GBFB.
To volunteer, visit volunteer@gbfb.org. Or, check out www.bgfb.org to find a food pantry or kitchen near you where you can volunteer by helping distribute or serve food directly to recipients.
For a more rural experience, you can volunteer at Heifer Overlook Farm, located west of Boston in Rutland, Massachusetts. As a learning center of Heifer International, the working farm hosts over 20,000 visitors each year who learn about the organization's latest work toward solving world poverty and hunger. Visit www.heifer.org and click on "Get Involved" to learn more. Donate food. If you are short on time but have some non-perishable food items left in your pantry before the holiday break, don't just let them collect dust - contribute them to a food-drive to support the Greater Boston Food Bank or take them directly to a pantry or kitchen (see www.bgfb.org).
Buy a paper for just $1. Purchase a copy of Spare Change News from a vendor, stationed at various area intersections (like Coolidge Corner) and you'll be supporting the Homeless Empowerment Project in its efforts to end homelessness, while getting great information. In addition to articles written by homeless writers, the publication includes a list of local food pantries and kitchens and their hours of operation. Check out http://www.homelessempowerment.org/ for more information.
NATIONALLY
Donate online. At the website of America's Second Harvest, http://www.secondharvest.org/, you can donate to the country's largest "charitable hunger-relief organization" with just a few clicks. Even small donations make a huge difference because every dollar donated translates to 20 pounds of food and household products that reach needy people! Ninety-eight percent of all funds go directly toward supporting more than 200 food banks throughout all fifty states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
INTERNATIONALLY
Donate clicks. At www.thehungersite.com, you can click once daily to donate more than one cup of staple food to hungry people, both in America and abroad- at no cost to you! Thanks to company sponsors, the site donates funds to America's Second Harvest and the international non-profit Mercy Corps for every click. Make it your home page to remind yourself to click everyday, and see the donations add up! Also, when you buy merchandise from linked hungersite stores, part of the money goes toward a food donation, so you can find great holiday gift items for your family and friends and give food, all at once!
Donate chicks....or a share of a goat or a llama. For as little as $10 or $20, you can buy these and other animals from Heifer International. This organization gives the animals to families around the world so they can support themselves. You can even give the animals in honor of a family member or friend, a unique gift for that special person who has everything! Visit www.catalog.heifer.org to start shopping.
ANYWHERE
Procrastinate and give later. If you cannot help in any way right now, save this article or jot down the resources for future reference. Many non-profits and charities receive their greatest support during the winter holiday season, but people struggle with hunger and food insecurity all year long. Consider saving up a few extra bucks or cans and donating them in the "off" season of the spring and summer months, or volunteer when it is more convenient for you.
Whenever and however you give, you will be helping to make sure everyone has something to give thanks for this season!
