According to a new study:
[L]ow-income Americans now would have to spend up to 70 percent of their food budget on fruits and vegetables to meet new national dietary guidelines for healthy eating.
America is a wonderful country, a country that welcomed millions of refugees and immigrants from all over the world and continues to do so today. Living here, we enjoy unprecedented freedom and prosperity. Yet some Americans still face poverty and homelessness.
Many who go hungry work low-paying full time jobs. They often have children. Some fell into poverty because of extended illness or injury. You may know these people, pass them on the street and not realize the problems they face.
Those of us with plenty can help those with less in a myriad of ways. One of those ways is to donate to food shelves and community kitchens.
Years ago in Jerusalem I was invited to a special bar mitzvah lunch. The Mayberg family had flown from Florida to Israel to celebrate the bar mitzva of one of their sons. How did they celebrate? The boy had his aliya at the Kotel (Western Wall). The luncheon I was invited to? It was held in the Collel Chabad soup kitchen where the family sponsored the meal and ate side by side with the soup kitchens regular diners and invited guests.
We can't all hold our family celebrations in the local soup kitchen, even if it happens to serve kosher food. But we can take a moment out of our Thanksgiving to remember that there are Americans who will go hungry today. Use that moment to write a check to help combat hunger. As you do that, think about what else you could do to help make your community a better place to live for all its citizens, including the less fortunate.