Hunger and food insecurity (not sure where the next meal will come from) is not a problem found “somewhere else.” It’s right here, on our doorstep, among people we come in contact with every day. Some 250,000 people in Silicon Valley use the Food Bank each month. The total of hungry people around us is even higher, because many others depend on food pantries that operate out of churches or other groups that collect their own food for distribution, not dipping into the never-enough supply at the Food Bank.
That’s a large number of men, women, and children suffering in an economy struggling to stabilize itself. I can’t change the situation or hurry along economic recovery, but I can toss a few extra items into my grocery cart and drop them off someplace that will do some good, like the Santa Teresa Parish food pantry down the street from me on Cahalan Ave. I bet there’s a close-by place where you could do the same.