fbpx
MANOPAUSE - Join Millions of Men Living Their Best Life, Today!
Advertisement

To Give Or Not To Give: Save Hungry Kids In America

Shakespeare might have written on the problem of hungry kids:

To give or not to give, that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of indifference,
Or to take arms against a sea of childhood hunger
And by opposing it, end it.

Imagine your child or grandchild not having enough to eat, especially when other children do. The idea of hungry kids is heartbreaking and infuriating, especially if you do not have the means to do anything about it! Regardless of the cause, the child is an innocent victim and collateral damage of the childhood hunger epidemic.

I’ve been to Africa and encountered the hunger problem among children. Everywhere you look, there are hungry kids looking for any small amount of sustenance. Charitable organizations, religious and secular, provide funding and assistance in many African countries, but resources are limited and there is essentially no middle class. That is not the case here in the United States. Each of us has an opportunity to help these hungry kids and in turn help ourselves.

Childhood hunger in America is real and much too common, and the long term consequences will affect these children as they grow into adulthood, and thusly society as a whole.

Why Do We Have A Hungry Kid Problem?

According to WorldVision, some of the causes of childhood hunger are:

  • Sudden Unemployment
  • A rise in the cost of living
  • Natural disasters
  • Insufficient community or government support
  • Loss of the family breadwinner

2020 and 2021 have been particularly difficult years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and exposed the vulnerability of too many families in the US and the world. According to The Brookings Institution, there are approximately 14 million children in the US that do not get enough to eat!

Consequences of Childhood Hunger

We all know that babies and young children need nourishment to grow. The mental and physical health of a child are strongly impacted by the nutrition they receive in those early years, and will have lifelong consequences.

  • Malnutrition
  • Stunted physical growth: studies show that this might be irreversible after age 3!
  • Slower brain and cognitive development, leading to mental disorders and learning disabilities
  • Impaired Immune Systems, leading to increased susceptibility to acute and chronic diseases

There are so many reasons to give to charitable causes that fight childhood hunger and help these hungry kids. Economic and government policies can do a lot, but they are often subject to the vagaries of politics. From a strictly practical point of view, malnourished, underdeveloped, chronically ill children become adults that will need significant financial support. From a moral or religious point of view, we should not only need to help, but want to help, relieve the suffering of these hungry kids.

Manopause.com Supports the “NO KID HUNGRY” Campaign

There are a multitude of charities that are involved with fighting childhood hunger. Manopause.com supports the “No Kid Hungry” campaign, established in 2010, and run by “Share Our Strength,” a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness, organizes community involvement, and provides support for a variety of projects.

Hungry Kids

School Meals

The “No Kid Hungry” program helps schools get funding they need to not only provide breakfast and after-school meals for kids, but also summer meals when school is closed. This nutrition makes an enormous difference for kids at risk.

Food Banks

The organization distributes grant money to schools, organizations, and community food banks to help identify and feed kids in need.

Advocacy And Awareness

“No Kid Hungry” brings awareness to communities through celebrity outreach and by working with bipartisan legislators to craft policies that will address and combat childhood hunger. Recognition of a problem is the first step to solving it!

To Give Or Not To Give

We all face daily questions about how to spend our money, and if we’re honest, if we have disposable income, we tend to spend some of it on frivolous things. It’s easy for each of us to give a little, either monthly, or one time, to help solve this problem. Let’s make sure there are no hungry kids!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Winston Churchill

Share The Article

About The Author
Larry Pollack
Larry Pollack
Larry Pollack is a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon in Del Mar, California. In addition to co-founding and writing articles for Manopause.com, he has written a television presentation pilot called "Manopause" and a horror film called "Spore."
More Articles & Videos
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x

Login or Sign Up (Coming Soon!)