For quite a while, the media were reluctant to say the ‘R’ (for recession) word. Now, every day, we see the human interest segments, both on national and local news programs, showing us how to save money in a variety of ways. Food is a hot topic, too. Instead of chefs showing us how to make a pricey, elegant dish, they’re now running pieces on how to make five different dishes with just three ingredients!

With tens of millions of people living below the poverty level, you can’t help but feel sorrow, knowing there are kids and elderly people going to bed hungry. Nationwide, food banks, which stock emergency food supplies for those in need, are reporting slim inventories, while others are close to empty. The directors of the food banks are pleading for donations, saying that if all you can donate is a single can of food, do it. If everyone did this, it would make the difference between supplying a family with a food basket gift to tide them over and having to turn them away empty handed.

Children seem to be most sensitive to the predicaments these other kids suffer. Schools across the country are now sponsoring food drives to provide needy families with food basket gifts. The kids canvas their neighborhoods, asking for just a single item to donate for this worthy project. People who can afford to give more, often respond generously. The kids bring the donations to school, where all of the food is consolidated in boxes and transported to one of the local food banks. The end result is that the food banks are back in business, able to provide enough in each family’s food basket gift to keep them going.

Religious organizations are now also sponsoring similar food drives to supply congregation members with food basket gifts. They then send the excess off to the community food bank.

Another variation on the food gift basket is sponsoring food drives to restaurants. The higher end restaurants often have food left over from that evening’s meals, which they won’t serve again, in an effort to maintain the high standards their customers expect. Some restaurateurs take it upon themselves to bring these gourmet leftovers to soup kitchens, such as St. Vincent de Paul and other such organizations. However, most often, restaurants simply throw this food away – unless some enterprising group makes daily rounds to these restaurants to collect this food. This type of food drive feeds dozens of people every night, who would otherwise go hungry.

It seems terrible that, in this land of plenty, anyone should go hungry. This makes the food basket gift drive such a worthy cause. Get involved in your community’s need for food. This deed is it’s own reward!

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