So this is my first ever Thanksgiving alone. Well, not exactly alone. Dexter, my Schnoodle (Schnauzer Poodle, and I know it’s ridiculous), is here with me watching the parade and snacking on food until friends potentially show up later since I’d decided to host for anyone from work who didn’t have a place to go today.
I was a bit sad this morning that I was doing the parade thing alone for the first time. It had always been a family event and I haven’t missed it in 48 years. But I managed to keep busy baking a cake, walking Dexter, cleaning up a bit and distracting myself from the absence of family.
Then I remembered the work I’d been doing with my good friend Jerry from End Hunger USA 2030 and I realized how much I had to be Thankful for, despite not having my kids with me this holiday.
You see, over the course of the last six months or so, I’d been encouraging Influencers and casual social media users alike to join a campaign that was launching today, Thanksgiving 2024. Jerry and the organization opened my eyes to a problem I knew was out there, but lacked an understanding of the severity of. It’s the prevalence of food insecurity among people here in the United States. Before I get to the stats that knocked me on my heels, I’ll define food insecurity. Simply put, it’s when people don’t have enough to eat and don’t know when their next meal might be coming.
I’ve had periods of struggling. I am so so so SO far from being a wealthy person that my only real hope to land in that bracket is the lottery or one of my kids gets rich and I become a hanger-on (come on kiddos, I believe in you!!!) But I’ve never been in a situation where I didn’t have enough to feed myself or my family, and I simply cannot imagine what that would be like.
Unfortunately, FORTY SEVEN MILLION people in the United States live like that every day. Including 13.8 MILLION children. That is ONE in every FIVE kids in our country which is a tragedy I didn’t know about, and am still wrapping my head around.
Thankfully there are organizations like End Hunger USA 2030 who are doing things to make legislative changes to ensure that this doesn’t continue. They not only raise awareness of the issue, but work to make real legislative changes within the government to put an end to this issue.
Working with this organization made me truly realize what I had to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Yes, I might be sad that I’m not with family, and I might be working through some tough times here and there, but I’ve never had to worry that I might not eat, or struggle to make sure my kids do. And really... no family in this country we live in ever should. I’m so grateful fo the work Jerry and everyone from the organization puts in to help end this pandemic of hunger. Think about it one more time. One in five children. This isn’t an issue that’s far from you. You know someone who lives with food insecurity, even if you don’t know it.
