Food Banks in Crisis

"Be a hunger hero," says a food bank in Michigan.

The following information was brought to my attention by Lynn (Life According to the Wall Street Redneck's Wife) from Michigan. Gleaner's Food Bank needs your help! Michigan, especially the Flint and Detroit areas have been hit very hard by the tough economy and the break down of the automobile industry. Michigan is suffering from the highest rates of unemployment in the USA. This rise in the unemployment rate, which has yet according to ABC News this morning to peak, has caused a rise in the number of families needing help with basic necessities such as food and housing.

Just last week, at the Bible Studies class I attend, one of the participants, Tom, who assists at a food bank in Hollister, California (yes, unfortunately, the home town of the recent Pentagon shooter), told of the difficult situation there, with significant shortfalls in contributions and the need to allocate a maximum number of times per week that individuals or families can come in to receive help. In fact, some of the people who used to contribute are now people in need of contributions as a result of last year's immense bust in California's housing market, a bust similar to that across the USA but with seemingly greater consequences, considering that California has, in general, the highest housing prices in the country, both for owning and for renting. So, renting has become a problem for those who have lost their homes.

Given these two distant-from-each-other food banks in crisis, I would imagine that any city anywhere in this country has food banks in similar situations. If you are in a position to help, it would seem that there is no better time than now.