And just like that, the Christmas celebrations are over. One day there were a plethora of Christmas songs and greetings, then that day ends, there is this big anticlimax, and it’s back to reality.

One of the realities facing our community is the reality of hunger among several poorer families. A most wrenching scene witnessed during the Christmas/holiday shopping spree was that of a young mother with two young children begging at a major Miami shopping mall. They were not begging for a chance to visit Santa Claus at the mall, rather, they were begging money to buy food. Happily, many shoppers extended assistance to the family, but this should not be happening in America. No one should be allowed to go hungry.

But, unfortunately, hunger, or food-insecurity, is a major problem in this country. Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture released a report that last year 14.6 percent of American households had difficulty putting food on the table. That is 17 million Americans who at some time during 2008 could not adequately feed themselves mainly because of poverty. Families, like the young family at the Miami mall, did not have sufficient money to buy food. It can be assumed that when the USDA issues its report on food insecurities for 2009, it will reveal a higher percentage of people who are experiencing hunger, since more people had their incomes cut or eliminated this year. There can be no denying that incidences of poverty are spreading over America, as the economy struggles, but this is no reason why Americans, especially children should be going hungry. There are programs available to feed poor families. The problem seems to be that much more information needs to be relayed to the poor regarding these programs.

For example, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the federal stimulus plan) initiatives were taken to increase nutritional food assistance to some 36.5 million people, most of them children, under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program. This program replaces the former food stamp program. To emphasize the existing information gap, very few people who need assistance with food for their families know that the food stamp program has been replaced with the SNAP program, although it is basically the same program.  

Importantly, under the AARA an additional $20 billion was allocated to increase food assistance to the poor. In most states, including Florida, a family of four, at or below the poverty level can receive an additional $80 monthly, to purchase food items, and states also have been given the right to extend this benefit to poor/needy families beyond the original limit of three months. These programs are administered by the Department of Children and Families, which have offices located throughout South Florida. One understands the constraints of operational budgets during these difficult economic times, but although the DCF may not have the funds to advertise these programs to the general public, it is recommended that they seek to negotiate with the South Florida media network to launch a program of public service announcements (print and on-air) to relay information on these programs. It is doubtful that the young mother and her two-children would be out begging money for food at the Miami mall, if she was aware she could get assistance for food (and more than previously) under the SNAP program.

But, still there is much more to be done. Although there is assistance given to the children of poor families under the National School Lunch Program (providing a child with a healthy meal each day), this meal may be the only meal that a child from has for a school day. Although children certified to benefit under the SNAP program can automatically get free school lunches, there is a need to extend this program to include breakfast, or a late meal. Moreover, when schools are on holidays, as they now are, children who benefit under the free nutritional program, are disadvantaged, and are likely to go without a proper daily meal. The program should be extended to poor children during holidays, even one meal a day.  

Of course, there will be the usual arguments of resistance, pointing out logistic problems in feeding children when schools are not in session, but this should not be a difficulty. If the community is genuine about helping the less fortunate, there is no reason why people cannot volunteer to assist in such a program.

The fact is that allowing members of the community to go hungry is unacceptable. If some $12 billion can be spent across the nation over the past month purchasing items, most of which are not needed and could go to waste, there is money available, publicly and privately, to feed the poor.  The government is implementing public projects to provide assistance, and the community needs to step up and play its part too.