The needs of the poor in Dickens’ London of 1843 are equally matched in our own community in 2009. Last year’s meltdown of our financial systems has led to layoffs of hundreds of hard-working citizens. Those of us who have means should pause this holiday season and remember Scrooge’s transformation and the wisdom of A Christmas Carol. Give whatever you can to one or more of the hundreds of social service agencies in our community. If you are strapped for cash, volunteer your time. If you don’t have time, donate generously to one or more of the many social service agencies that literally hold our society together.
I encourage volunteerism because the only way to understand the greatly increased needs of our fellow citizens is to see it first hand. Need has risen exponentially this year, especially when it comes to food. The numbers are staggering. Clyde Fitzgerald, executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, said there has been a 75 percent increase in the demand for food since 2008, which means more children are going hungry on a daily basis.
The 18 counties served by Second Harvest have been some of the counties hardest hit by the recession and the loss of manufacturing jobs. In Forsyth and Guilford counties, the two most affluent counties served by the nonprofit, scarcity of food is becoming more dire with each passing day. Last year, one out of every 12 people in the Piedmont Triad needed food assistance. This year, one out of every 7 people in Forsyth and Guilford counties is requesting food assistance.
“Our 400 partner agencies tell us that right now, this Christmas, our agencies are serving over 100,000 people more than they did in 2008,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s the serious and urgent problem of hunger that goes on in this area.”
Samaritan Ministries in Winston-Salem is one of Second Harvest’s partner agencies. The problem of hunger in the area can be seen daily in the length of the queues outside Samaritan’s facility on Patterson Avenue, said the nonprofit’s executive director Sonija Kurosky.
“We’re seeing a lot of new faces in the soup kitchen,” Kurosky said. “People are bringing their families. Food shortage is a big issue. Homelessness is always an issue but we’re seeing that hunger is on the increase.”
Kurosky said Samaritan expects to serve an additional 10,000 lunches this year versus last year. That number is even more dramatic when one considers the nonprofit served nearly 160,000 hot lunches in 2008.
Second Harvest is distributing 19 to 20 tons of food a day to agencies like Samaritan but it’s simply not enough to meet the demand out there.
Fitzgerald pointed out that North Carolina and Louisiana led the nation in percentage of young children who suffer from hunger. And this statistic was a real eye-opener: one out of four children ages 0 to 5 goes hungry in North Carolina. For Fitzgerald, that is simply unacceptable. Despite the enormity of the problem, Fitzgerald firmly believes that hunger can be eradicated.
“There will always be the poor among us but there should not be the hungry among us,” he said. “We’re trying to eliminate hunger for children. We’re contributing more food than we ever have before and it’s not nearly enough.”
To help keep the shelves of Second Harvest fully stocked, Fitzgerald spearheads dozens of food drives across the Piedmont Triad, many of which coincide with the holiday season.
“This is a time of year where people reflect on blessings in their life and perhaps become a bit more motivated to help others, but we do it every month of the year,” he said. “Hunger doesn’t take a holiday. We will have more people hungry the first week in January than in the last week of December.”
Fitzgerald’s dream is to one day close the doors of Second Harvest because that will mean every man, woman and child in northwest North Carolina will have enough food to live on. But until that day comes, Fitzgerald will continue to answer a personal calling to help those less fortunate.
“My life has been blessed and I haven’t had to deal with the obstacles that many people in this area have had to deal with,” he said. “I’m committed to people getting nutritious food so people can not only survive but thrive. There are a lot of problems in the world, but hunger is a solvable problem.”
Fitzgerald is right. Hunger is a solvable problem, and the answer begins with each of each and every one of us.
To learn more about Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina or to donate, visit www.hungernwnc.org.
