Community Chat

[cherry]

@reiki604  I have known such wonderful people in my life, that became my mentors. They were such fine people, I humbly walk in their shadow. I am not anywhere near the   quality of cloth, they were cut from. I was blessed just to know them

Thank you for your kind words. I hope I can live up to them

[Pook]

@cherry  There is nothing judgemental about contacting your legislators to let them know of this widespread issue and asking for help in a resolution to this issue.  Hoping the proper children will be helped is not walking the walk - just stumbling around!  Helping those parents struggling or not having a clue is doing the best to help the children longterm.  It will break the cycle and they will grow up knowing what responsible parents must do.  Nothing judgemental - just providing help to get these parents on track. There is help for those that are bipolar and I know many bipolar mothers and fathers who are really good parents but they need help and meds.  Giving food to kids is great but it is not assuring that they will be fed well.  The most caring thing would be to help be a part of the resolution!!  Any child who is not being fed by their parents is to be considered abused. I don't understand teachers especially who are mandated to report such issues just giving food and ignoring the problem.  I am passionate about this since I know first hand what the problems are,  as I was a mandatory reporter,  I saw many positve results from reporting that children coming into our office were hungry and malnourished.   

[cherry]

@Pook  I don't just charge into places claiming ,I know all the answers to other peoples problems. It simply scares me ,when people start making up plans for others to live by, including taking away their children

I will do what I can to gently show kindness ,and compassion ,to those that are in need. They have enough bossy boots to answer to, and I simply refuse to be another one

The family I spoke about was fully able to get help, without me sticking my nose in. They needed friends ,not Master Sargent's

[Cakers3]

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@Pook wrote:

@reiki604 I'm not sure where you got $1.40 per day per person but you might want to look at the SNAP eligibity charts!!  While there might be some who have near the maximum income limit who don't get that much, they usually are not the ones who neglect to feed their children properly.   

It's not a small sample that I speak of.  We had access to the overall statistics for the whole state as well as the entire country.  It makes me wonder where your info came from!!

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@Pook   I don't know if @reiki604 posted this but I was the person who said the national average is $1.40 per person per meal.

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

. On average, SNAP households received about $253 a month in fiscal year 2018. The average SNAP benefit per person was about $126 per month, which works out to about $1.40 per person per meal.

The stat was based on the USDA website.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, “SNAP Fiscal Year 2019 Cost-of-Living Adjustments

Again I ask:  Could you feed yourself and EACH family member on $1.40 per person per day??

[bathina]

I am I total awe of the majority of posters on this thread who agree that when someone is hungry they should be fed. The others? Taking children away from poor parents, suggesting that legislators should be called when there are programs in place to assist (and we are in fact, talking about one) blaming the poor for being poor- they're lazy scammers who devise elaborate systems to bilk the government...and the granddaddy of them all- looking down upon, sneering and mocking the poor under the guise of Gods work. No wonder people are turning their backs on the church. Disgraceful.

[cherry]

My advice to people, who continually decide what is best ,for everyone else..Consider Wendy Williams. The amount of free advice she constantly spewed out, about other people, was incredible ,considering the mess her own life was in

Remember free advice is the easiest type to give...

[dex]

@Cakers3 @The cards are in addition to others assistance.that is not all there is available.I am with Pook on this.The more we do for people the less able they become to help themselves.I like to think that we could find a way to help these families become independent and with that comes the pride of achievement.I know people who exist on meager amounts by careful budgeting and lifestyle choices.I grew up that way and in my early adult years too.I have come a long way since then and I truly believe that the hardships I endured without assistance taught me everything I needed to know about managing my life.My mom barely made ends meet raising us but she would not ask for help.She Just worked harder to get what we needed.We had a wood stove to heat,cook,and provide hot water...my mom chopped that wood on weekends as she worked during the week.She had to put my brother and I in a wagon to drop us off at the sittter and then continue her almost two mile walk to work.She did laundry on a scrubboard and hung it.She planted a garden and canned food.People today are just not equipped to survive like the older generations.

[Cakers3]

It is astonishing to me the ignorance about poverty.

Do people not realize that in today's techno world schools are moving away from textbooks?  That homework is often submitted online?  Not everyone can afford a laptop.  My grandson submitted more homework online than on paper.

Cell phones?  So what?  There are programs to help people have a cell phone.  Not every person who has one doesn't feed his/her children.  Seriously flawed assumption.

A warm coat?  Seriously?  Mothers and their children fleeing from abuse, living in shelters, with the clothes on their backs.   Better to send them back home to abuse and possible death than give, in most circumstances, A USED COAT.

It isn't about the minimal amount of abuse of the system.   It's about a severe lack of understanding about poverty, about addictions, about homelessness, about the root of the cause as to how a person ended up where they are today.

Some people "toot their horn" but fail to hear that they are tooting mostly sour notes.

I cannot believe the post by @IamMrsG.  The resentment came across so intensely when I read it late last night broke my heart.

People resent others getting something for nothing.  Yet they fail to see that it isn't about the $$$.  They are not getting something for nothing; they had to pay the price of hunger, of being cold, of suffering from addiction, and most of all paying the price of suffering from the looks of scorn given out by the very people who are acting as those that meal was personally paid for by the volunteer.

Do people suffer the consequences of their actions?  Of course they do.  Yet we only look at the result and not the how and why those actions happened in the first place.

I am not absolving people of their responsibilities; but I am not going to look at every person who needs a hand up with suspicion, ridicule, blame, scorn.

If it bothers those who just know those they serve are out to scam, then volunteer or find employment elsewhere.  You'll sleep much better and your health will not suffer the stress of being a judge.

[Cakers3]

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@dex wrote:

@Cakers3 @The cards are in addition to others assistance.that is not all there is available.I am with Pook on this.The more we do for people the less able they become to help themselves.I like to think that we could find a way to help these families become independent and with that comes the pride of achievement.I know people who exist on meager amounts by careful budgeting and lifestyle choices.I grew up that way and in my early adult years too.I have come a long way since then and I truly believe that the hardships I endured without assistance taught me everything I needed to know about managing my life.My mom barely made ends meet raising us but she would not ask for help.She Just worked harder to get what we needed.We had a wood stove to heat,cook,and provide hot water...my mom chopped that wood on weekends as she worked during the week.She had to put my brother and I in a wagon to drop us off at the sittter and then continue her almost two mile walk to work.She did laundry on a scrubboard and hung it.She planted a garden and canned food.People today are just not equipped to survive like the older generations.

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@dex   The cards are in addition and the cards are sometimes the only assistance.  Just because you see a person using SNAP doesn't mean that they are getting any other assistance.  Your statement is flawed.

[Pook]

@Cakers3  Averages never give a true picrture of anything and make it look bad but a true picture can not be had with averages!  The government sticks with averages because it's easier and most don't realize that an accurate picture is not being given.  Although there is a sliding scale for households depending on how many members there are, this stat is based on all households with from one to 10 or more members with many working and receiving only a small benefit and is not really indicative of what most get.  So basically it's very inaccurate!  Those with income have many deductions taken from their total monthly income and what they are alloted should be sufficient to help them out and no child should go without food in any household receiving SNAP ever!