September is Hunger Action Month

September is

Hunger is here, right in your neighborhood. Whether one is at risk of starvation, being underfed, or dealing with food insecurity, there are 50 million Americans affected by hunger.

Hunger impacts child development, health and wellness, education, workforce development  and our general welfare as a nation

In contrast to what many believe, hunger does not only affect the homeless. It is a tough economic time and you would be surprised at who is hungry. Many families are just one paycheck away from needing to rely on a food bank, food pantry or soup kitchen.

Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. In its recent study it found one in six Americans suffer from hunger. 

Feeding America has deemed September  “Hunger Action Month” – This is a national movement to raise awareness and take action to help the 50 million Americans who experience hunger. 

Throughout the month, Feeding America’s nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, including your local one, is working to engage citizens to take action and help spread awareness about how pervasive hunger is in our country.

Here are some links where you can find out what you can do locally, and where you can donate, even a dollar, to make a difference in domestic hunger issues.
http://feedingamerica.org  (donate even a dollar)
http://hungeractionmonth.org/  (find out  about hunger in your county and how to help your local food banks)




You can also help with the International Hunger Epidemic with just your clicks. You can set your homepage to:

http://www.thehungersite.com  and help with hunger around the world. You simply click, and many large organizations count your click and they donate to the cause. There are several other causes on the website and you can “click to give” daily!

 Thanks for reading!

9-11: Ten Years Later

 I was there that day. Living in "The City", many blocks uptown. Sometimes memories morph into something that you are not sure really happened. A memory can get confused with facts and fantasies swirling in your brain. Not this one. I could see the smoke from my apartment. I could smell the death for a month. For several days, my friends  and family searched for each other, making sure each other was OK; making sure each other was alive. Many were not. Cell phones eerily connected to voice mails. Ghosts of voices never to be heard again. Names trickled in the first few days. The names of friends who went to work that day on the doomed high floors.  The names of the many firefighter friends who ran into the flames. Then came the funerals and memorials. None with more than a photo. No bodies, no belongings. So many on some days that I had to pick and choose which to attend.

The new reality began to set in. Months of bomb scares. My own apartment building being evacuated with a bomb scare. Each subway ride interrupted for bomb scares and searches.  The smoke lingered. An ever present reminder. The rumors were heart wrenching. Stories of children dancing in an Arab neighborhood in Brooklyn, as the planes struck. Stories of taxi drivers fleeing the country with their families the day before the disaster. Rumors of Muslim World Trade Workers staying home that dreadful day.  Rumors drawing the dividing line that gets darker everyday, still.

Months went by, we tried to settled in to life in a new world.  The  City was stunned with PTSD and survivor guilt. The City yearned for the unity we felt those weeks following the event. Many left. I was one. To this day, I feel like a deserter, weak.  I have been gone nine years and I cannot go back. Back to my home. I often tell people "We must never forget". Sometimes I wish I could. As I write this, I feel as if I am still stunned from the new reality which has never really set in for me.

Hurricane Irene

One week later, Spring Lake, NJ  The boardwalk is gone

The boardwalk is gone