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Well, according to my Grandma (who passed away several years ago), neighbors helped neighbors. She grew up during the Depression, and her father was a doctor. They lived in the country and she said they didn't feel the full effects as far as not having enough to eat, unlike people in cities did because they couldn't grow their own food. She said her father always had wanderers come through looking for work. He would find them odd jobs to do on their land in exchange for food. If possible he would give them money as well. Mostly the people just wanted something to eat and a place to rest for a while. My Grandma was the best example to me of Christian duty. She literally helped people her entire life, cooking for them and bringing them meals. She visited people on a daily basis, and her door was always open for her friends and neighbors. She brought sick people care packages and never forgot anyone on Birthdays and Holidays. My Grandpa's Step Sister was in a Mental Facility for her entire adult life, and my Grandmother always visited her and brought her bags of things every time. Clothes, treats, books, and whatever she needed. She did that until my Grandpa's Step Sister passed away. She and my Grandpa lived in the Country (my dad lives there now) and neighbors always helped each other. They helped clear brush, mow, tend fields, work on machines and cars, swapped produce and meat, etc...Noone went without. I wish everyone, or at least more people, were like that today.
Or maybe instead of her getting a job her kids and grandkids could have cared enough to make sure she was well fed.
I have nothing against Meals on Wheels and generally think it is a nice program but that doesn't mean the Feds have to fund it. The States can fund it. Communities can fund it. Churches and other non-profits can fund it., Individuals can fund it. Families & neighbors can think beyond themselves and look after their own elders.
My mom lived in PA, I lived in Colorado and my brother lived in Florida. Tell me how we were supposed to handle that. Her MOW was based out of her church, where she and my dad had been big donors and big-time workers in their day. Heck, my brother delivered MOW in Florida. Mom wasn't freeloading by a long shot. Plus she paid for them. You guys seem to think they're totally free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondy
I live in central Florida. During the height of the last recession when people were losing their jobs/homes, the food banks in town were having trouble keeping stocked.
I don't know where their funding came from, but I do know that whenever they put out an appeal for food, they got it from the community. People stepped up to help their neighbors. Churches collected on Sunday and delivered to them. Grocery stores put out boxes in their stores and delivered to them as well as giving them direct donations. Same with large and small businesses who made it easy for their employees to bring food in and then delivered it.
I'm sure there are places that are exceptions, but most communities in this country could simply ask people to clean out their pantries of close to expired items and have sufficient food to feed the hungry that week. And in reality, when they need food, they generally put out lists of things they want and people buy and donate those things.
At one point, the food bank I donate to actually asked people to give money instead of food and/or they recruited volunteers to help sort the food, because they were running out of room/time to store and process it out to people who needed it.
Sometimes food banks prefer money so they can get foods they need. People tend to donate crap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jojajn
I wonder how many of those who need meals on wheels voted for Trump.
Why should that matter? Most of them probably didn't vote at all. What an attitude!
Then support policies that get abusers off the system and people wouldn't be so p*ssed off. By supporting and defending the abuse, you're part of the problem
People on this forum frequently talk about their own personal situation. I'm sure I've done the same. Your mother is lucky she has a daughter who cares about her and is able to help. Not everyone has a family, however. Sometimes their children care, but they're also struggling to make ends meet. From what I've read here, there are many communities that support their local food programs with donations, which is great, but that does not mean those programs aren't necessary.
There's an expression about getting it straight from the horse's mouth, so I'm going to quote the Meals on Wheels website
“The problem with a skinny budget is it is lean on details. So, while we don’t know the exact impact yet, cuts of any kind to these highly successful and leveraged programs would be a devastating blow to our ability to provide much-needed care for millions of vulnerable seniors in America, which in turn saves billions of dollars in reduced healthcare expenses” said Ellie Hollander, President and CEO Meals on Wheels America.
Whatever happened to Corporate Donations to local Charities? For example, where I live, Dell and HEB are "King" so to speak. If someone had a local food delivery service, why couldn't they contribute somehow? There is a Grassroots meal program for kids where I live, started by a local man, and he calls it "Weekend Lunchbox". He relies on volunteers and food donations to stock his charity. It's for kids whose only source of nutrition is their weekly school lunch. He gets backpack donations and stuffs the backpacks full of easy to fix foods and snacks, so that these kids have something to eat on the weekend. They can also bring their own backpack and fill it. He does this all with local volunteers and donations from the public. My daughter's Middle School has a "Store" that kids who need clothes can "shop" at, and they also rely on donations of either new or gently used items, so that kids who can't afford to have nicer things have a chance to have nice things for free.
I think I agree with the poster who says it's more of a Shift of funds than a cutting of them. Or maybe putting the responsibility on State and Local as opposed to Federal.
Well, according to my Grandma (who passed away several years ago), neighbors helped neighbors. She grew up during the Depression, and her father was a doctor. They lived in the country and she said they didn't feel the full effects as far as not having enough to eat, unlike people in cities did because they couldn't grow their own food. She said her father always had wanderers come through looking for work. He would find them odd jobs to do on their land in exchange for food. If possible he would give them money as well. Mostly the people just wanted something to eat and a place to rest for a while. My Grandma was the best example to me of Christian duty. She literally helped people her entire life, cooking for them and bringing them meals. She visited people on a daily basis, and her door was always open for her friends and neighbors. She brought sick people care packages and never forgot anyone on Birthdays and Holidays. My Grandpa's Step Sister was in a Mental Facility for her entire adult life, and my Grandmother always visited her and brought her bags of things every time. Clothes, treats, books, and whatever she needed. She did that until my Grandpa's Step Sister passed away. She and my Grandpa lived in the Country (my dad lives there now) and neighbors always helped each other. They helped clear brush, mow, tend fields, work on machines and cars, swapped produce and meat, etc...Noone went without. I wish everyone, or at least more people, were like that today.
What a great grandma. She sounds wonderful. And this is the way it used to be....people helping each other without regard to themselves. I always thought this was god's way. But I'm wrong because now many are just out for themselves and could care less about those less fortunate.
Whatever happened to Corporate Donations to local Charities? For example, where I live, Dell and HEB are "King" so to speak. If someone had a local food delivery service, why couldn't they contribute somehow? There is a Grassroots meal program for kids where I live, started by a local man, and he calls it "Weekend Lunchbox". He relies on volunteers and food donations to stock his charity. It's for kids whose only source of nutrition is their weekly school lunch. He gets backpack donations and stuffs the backpacks full of easy to fix foods and snacks, so that these kids have something to eat on the weekend. They can also bring their own backpack and fill it. He does this all with local volunteers and donations from the public. My daughter's Middle School has a "Store" that kids who need clothes can "shop" at, and they also rely on donations of either new or gently used items, so that kids who can't afford to have nicer things have a chance to have nice things for free.
Maybe the above isn't enough to fund all the needs. Relying on donations isn't very reliable. How do you know a local food delivery service (?) isn't already donating.
Read about this recently. It is sad they are cutting these programs. For many seniors they really do need those meals.
I used to work for a contractor that provided HUD funded senior/disabled housing. Many of our residents lived on less than $800 a month and could not afford to buy food after paying for medicines and other medical care needs. They heavily depended on Meals on Wheels.
I also wonder if they will be cutting the summer food programs that are in local school districts and HUD public housing locations. Many school children in the summer do not get a meal everyday like they would with school breakfast and lunch.
One of my last housing jobs we had a person who worked for the summer food program who prepared and served the kids and she used to go on and on about how "bad" the kids were but she thought the parents were worse because those kids really didn't have any food to eat and due to being public housing residents, she knew their parents had foodstamps. She did and still does her best every summer to teach the kids some manners and how to eat(some didn't know how to cut food or eat with a fork because they didn't use silverware or eat food that required utensils at home). Many of the kids would be lined up for breakfast at 7am in summer and would tell her how they hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before. She figured that was why many of them acted so "bad." They were hungry.
Hope all of you who voted for Trump has elderly people in your own family/neighborhood who will suffer due to this. I am a "you get what you vote for" type of person and honestly my main "gripe" with Trump is that he is a horrible person, personality-wise who cares more about money and "winning" than real people.
FYI - your church probaby gets money from this grant to run their program. Churches in my area, including my mom's church runs this program for kids/elderly too and it is funded via a community block grant provided to them via our city government. The city got the grant from HUD.
I help take care of my elderly mom, and I'm still a Trump voter and not unhappy with my choice. I already posted a response to another person about a Grassroots Food Program in the town I live in. A man here started a Weekend Lunchbox charity. He relies on donations from citizens of easy to fix foods and snack items and Backpacks. He stuffs the backpacks with food that these kids can have at home, because the only real food they get is at school during the week. How many Grassroots organizations are out there that don't rely on HUD Grants or any other Federal Funds?
Lot's of compassion, empathy, and caring. Great to see that someone is working to make America great again.
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