For Kansans in need, hunger is real. Our compassion and generosity can make the difference.
A sign in an Indianapolis store shown on Aug. 1, 2023, says SNAP benefits are accepted. A new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office projects 2.4 million fewer people per month will participate in the program under Republicans’ tax cut and spending law. (Photo by Getty Images)
As I drove away from the grocery store, I could feel tears in my eyes as I thought of the young lady with three young children who had been in front of me in the checkout line.
Her Kansas food assistance card wasn’t working perfectly and she finally got it to go through. Relief. I watched her as fear and anxiety gripped her face and showed from her heart. I saw a little girl in her eyes, crying out for answers to the poverty she was facing.
This is an all-too-common picture these days. The poverty that Kansans and Americans experience is real and heartbreaking. Young mothers, the disabled, seniors, veterans — the list goes on of people in need. After all, we’re all looking for answers to life’s problems, no matter whether we are rich or poor.
My sister’s husband, Don, writes a food blog. It’s called Fueled by Flavor. Don is a wonderful cook, and his recipes are amazing. When my mom and I fly to Tucson to visit them in their beautiful home, Don cooks for us. Every dinner is a treat. I pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. I am safe, I have shelter, and I am loved — loved by a dear family that cares for me.
Most people don’t have a Fueled by Flavor blogger in their family who cooks for them. I realize how special this is. My grandpa, who was a minister, was also a great cook. In the back of my grandparents’ huge home, built in Civil War times, was a “summer kitchen,” which was a screened-in room complete with a stove, microwave, fridge, coffee maker and long table and chairs for entertaining. I experienced wonderful meals there with my grandpa’s incredible Southern cooking, from catfish and hushpuppies to scrambled eggs and homemade biscuits and ice-cold orange juice to start the day.
Like I said, hunger is real for too many people. Too many people in other parts of the world are hungry. In our own communities, people struggle with grocery prices and having enough money to feed themselves and their vulnerable families.
Last month, I did a gift card drive for the clients of Breakthrough House in Topeka, which is a local nonprofit organization helping vulnerable people in need who experience a serious mental illness. As always, my family and friends gave to my gift card drive. One of my friends gave three $50 Dillon’s gift cards. I received an email from one of the directors of Breakthrough House: She was thrilled with being able to help hungry clients.
She was moved by my friend’s generosity.
It’s easy to judge people at the store who use a food assistance card. Too many times, legislators feel the need to impose restrictions on these folks about what they can purchase with their cards. Now there are new requirements and changes. It truly makes me sad.
Everyone needs food. I think we need to ask ourselves, WWJD? What Would Jesus Do? Who would Jesus feed? Would He feed just a select few? I can see Him at the nonprofit Let’s Help when people have walked or taken the bus to ask for help, to ask for something to eat. I cannot look away. Let’s Help executive director Patrick Yancey doesn’t look away. He and his team reach out all the time to help people in need.
It’s time we reached down deep within ourselves to find our inner generosity and compassion. We live in a nation where food should not be scarce. Let’s reach out and help someone in need. They are not lazy; they are not moochers. They are not the enemy. Let’s make them our friends by giving from our hearts.
Rebecca Lyn Phillips is a published author, speaker and mental health advocate. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.