Even though the last penny was minted this November by the U.S. Mint, the saying about every penny counting is still appropriate. It is a part of our history that we know that the formula for success and survival always involves many people, taking little steps in an informed and organized way, often with personal sacrifice as an additional ingredient.
Hunger is a huge problem in our world and in our community. For some this huge spike in need and cost signals a warning sign that too many Americans are relying on government help. But the truth behind the situation tells a different story.
The rising cost of and need for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programming (SNAP) and charitable assistance is not because something has gone wrong with people. Rather, it means that something is going wrong with modern living. Josh Elledge (“The Savings Angel”) tells us that before COVID, our government spent about $60 billion on SNAP to support 36.9 million Americans. By 2021 that number had more than doubled. That is a dramatic change, but we must consider that during COVID, millions of us lost jobs, had hours cut, or were forced to leave the workforce to become family caregivers. These were life-preserving responses in an unprecedented moment. What’s more, the pandemic ripples continue to play out. Food prices have risen by 20% since 2020 as well.
The truth is, when full-time workers still qualify for assistance, it is not a welfare problem. It is a wage and cost of living problem. Many of these workers hold essential jobs but still earn too little to take care of themselves and their families. Roughly two-thirds of the people receiving help are children, older adults, or people with disabilities. The rest are mostly working adults.
None of us is immune to having to live within a budget. None of us is immune to life’s challenges. Even with private charities, we cannot begin to meet the scale of hunger in our communities. Let’s not forget that we are all in this together and it is time to pinch the pennies and dig deep to help as much as we can, wherever we can.
Let us take inspiration from our long history of tackling big problems head-on and learning from our past:
- When the folks in Wilmington, North Carolina, started collecting pennies to save the USS North Carolina, the most decorated battleship of World War II, from the junkyard to bring it home to a position of honor and respect in their community.
- When, starting with children collecting dimes, we created the March of Dimes under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to set up the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (polio) in 1938.
- When Rotary Clubs across the country began pledging to support the END OF POLIO and other infectious diseases worldwide.
- When Lions Clubs across the country pledged themselves to the mission of improving eyesight for those in need.
- When the Salvation Army was formed in East London in 1865 by an itinerant Methodist minister and his wife. They developed a ministry model in a city of poverty and despair by meeting with people where they lived and worked. This movement spread across the ocean where the Kalamazoo Salvation Army now dedicates itself to those who struggle here in Kalamazoo County. With your support, this organization helps create joyous holidays despite trying times. Thank you to all who stop by the Red Kettle at Family Fare this year. Every penny still works hard to do good things.
