In 2011, 900,000 vets (not including homeless vets) relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide food for their families. One in 10 Minnesotans or more than 500,000 state residents experience food insecurity on a regular basis. That is more people than attended Minnesota Vikings’ home games during the 2014 regular season. These facts were put out by Minnesota Food Share during their 2015 March campaign.

March is Minnesota Food Share’s campaign, partnering with more than 300 food shelves statewide to raise funds and food for the food shelves that serve Minnesota.

I volunteer for publicity for the Wells Area Food Shelf. We serve all the communities in Faribault County. Our food shelf alone during the month of January served 295 individuals, 98 households and distributed 4,523 pounds of food. I imagine the scenario plays out in a bigger scale in bigger counties and communities.

There are those of you who might scoff at the fact people in Minnesota are hungry. I have heard the comments and seen the posts on social media that the people that need assistance need to get a job and go to work. Some of the comments are negative and demeaning. I have seen the looks people get at grocery stores by others in line if those people are using assistance. We need to stop the judgment.

According to Minnesota FoodShare, during the 2013 legislative session, a group of Minnesota lawmakers challenged one another to try to eat for a week on the average SNAP budget of $1.29 per meal. Not one of them made it. Could you feed yourself on $1.29 per meal?

Are there people that abuse the system? Absolutely. We have that no matter where we walk in our lives. Don’t let those people color your judgment for those who truly need our help. Two-thirds of SNAP households have members who are elderly, disabled or under 18, making consistent employment difficult.

There are people such as the elderly who are desperately in need of assistance. They do not seek the help because of the stigma and judgment that society, especially in rural communities, levels against those in need. Because of this, we, as caring people, need to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

We might think those who need help wear tatty clothes and are seedy, but that again is a myth. I knew a family years ago who were my good friends. I had no idea they were struggling. They were pillars of the community, and their business was struggling. They were too proud to ask for help. They didn’t have food to put on their table, yet because of the stigma they struggled in silence. They were responsible, well-dressed, well-educated people who were going through a rough patch in their lives. They needed help for a short period of time to get back on their feet. It was only by accident that we found out and were able to help. This was at a time where there were no food shelves for them to turn to. I am not sure they would have if they would have had that option because of the judgment and shame they felt needing help.

During the month of March our food shelf and other organizations and churches in the community are running campaigns in conjunction with Minnesota Food Share so they can avail themselves of the matching funds. My local grocery store, Wells Marketplace Foods is involved in helping us pack grocery bags for people to buy and donate to the food shelf. The Kwik Trip in Blue Earth every week donates food to our food shelf. It is a community, county and statewide effort to feed those in need.

I am urging you to check with your local communities and find out if your food shelf needs your help. Volunteers are also needed. It takes many hands and hearts for keep this outreach going.

Minnesota FoodShare shared this quote from David Nasby of General Mills: “America is the richest country in the world. And yet tonight, thousands of your neighbors will go to bed hungry. It may be your child’s schoolmate who is undernourished and has difficulty learning on an empty stomach. Or it could be a co-worker, a working mother whose low-wage job doesn’t make ends meet. Perhaps it’s an elderly neighbor who has to make a decision whether to delay filling a prescription or buying groceries. The faces of hunger are as broad as the faces of America.”

What do the faces that you look into as you walk down the street hide? Could the face that you see be the face of hunger in America? Please be part of the solution not the problem.

 

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at hermionyvidaliabooks@gmail.com. Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/julie.seedorf.author.