From the Editor
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[When I went to breakfast Wednesday morning, I didn't expect to walk away with the disappointment in some people that I did. I was very saddened at the conversation that I heard coming from a group of older individuals who were talking about the food drive that was occurring that morning.
I heard them saying negative things about the people in line for food that morning. From "did you see all those nice cars lined up this morning, I mean do they really need food driving those nice cars"
And how the conversation transitioned over into illegal aliens is beyond me. I heard one man state "how do we know they are poor, do they check that they are poor, like they check for illegal aliens?"
To these people, let me just say you should not pass judgment on the needy. Unless you are in their shoes, you do not know their situation. Next time you feel the need to be judgmental, think to yourself, maybe that person has been recently unemployed due to cuts at their workplace, maybe it is an older person who had to buy their medicine for the month and because of that couldn't afford food, maybe their spouse left them, or they are a single parent. There are many instances that may have placed them in a position to seek out assistance.
It makes me sad that people assume the worst of people. I am sure there are people who do take advantage of the system. But for the most part, the people who seek out these services are truly in need.
What difference did it make to these people who were speaking negatively, that the people in line drove decent cars? What these people don't realize is that the "cars" in line are not necessarily owned by the families seeking food. I was informed that area church members volunteer their time to get in line (in their cars) to pick up food for families in need who do not have cars. I was also informed that the people in need get rides from people that they know, who have cars. So please remember this the next time you feel the need to be judgemental.
Is the money coming out of your pocket to feed them? No, it isn't! The food is donated from the St. Louis food pantry, who work from donations from large corporations. For the calendar year 2010, here is the breakout of the food that the St.?Louis Food Bank distributed to area pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, etc:14,180,000 pounds - Donated product,10,245,000 pounds - USDA product and 1,032,000 pounds - Purchased product
The food is then filtered down to the local food pantry, who work from donations for distribution to local families in need.
The amount of people that get in line at these local food fairs is a unfortunate reflection of the trying economic times people all over are experiencing. So as you sit down this evening to eat a warm meal, please be thankful and remember that some people are not as fortunate as you.
Carrie Myers is the Managing Editor of the Randolph?County Herald Tribune. She can be reached at tribuneeditor@frontier.com