Community Service Project

Part I
The main thing I focused on when doing my community service was about poverty in America. But what I really was interested about the most was what poverty causes to the people in America. So my main focus was on those two topics, but the general idea was about poverty in America, because hunger is the outcome of a person living in poverty. People who don’t suffer from this have no idea how it feels to be deprived of food.

The most recent status about poverty in America that I found was a few statistics from the site “Feeding America” and they were, “In 2008, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were in poverty. In 2008, 8.1 (10.3% percent) million families were in poverty. In 2008, 22.1 million (11.7 percent) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty. In 2008, 14 million (19 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty. In 2008, 3.6 million (9.7 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.” All of these statistics are from 2008, but they are the most recent that I know about. All of these statistics are very high and pretty scary to think about; it’s a lot of people. People need to stand up and try to bring these percentages down.

The public is very supportive of this issue. Many Food Banks allow volunteers to help out in the warehouses and package food to be distributed to non-profit organizations to try and help this problem that many people face in America. If it weren’t for the many volunteers that the Food Bank gets, this message of helping these people in America suffering from poverty and hunger would go unnoticed. The San Francisco Food Bank even said, “Three hours is all it takes for you to feed a family. You’ll help put food on the table for people who need it every time you come into our warehouse.” Volunteers are the main drive for this issue to become even slightly better. When a person volunteers at the Food Bank, the project managers constantly remind the person volunteering how thankful they are for the person helping out, they really appreciate it.

There are some people that I know who are against the idea of putting so much money into programs that help people who are suffering from poverty because they think those people should have made something with their lives like everybody else. That’s easy for them to say, but I feel that for some people school was just not easy for them because of the background they grew up in. And it also could just be that because their parents weren’t educated and that didn’t help them when it came to school work.


Part II
There are many organizations that try and help people who are in need of good, like the non-profit organization called Glide. They are the only place in the Bay Area that serves 3 meals a day, 365 days a year; their Daily Free Meals Program. I gave some of my time volunteering there, and I must say it changed my outlook on the world. I am grateful for this organization because it gives a chance for homeless people suffering from hunger a chance to have a decent meal in their day. On Glide’s website’s homepage marked “About Glide,” it basically mentions their goal, it says, “Our mission is to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.” Many non-profit organizations are trying to make a difference with this issue to help reduce it, so maybe one day they can eventually end up solving it.

The Federal Government contributes to this issue by administering the WIC program, a program that helps low-income women who are pregnant or either have a child. Their mission is to "safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.” I find this program helpful because it gives the mothers a chance to be able to go to a grocery store and get food. They receive there vouchers that have certain foods on them that they are able to get. And when they take it to the front and present it to the cashier, they get those items for free; stuff like milk, peanut butter, cheese, and other stuff that can help the infant.

The Salvation Army is another good program out there that helps people in need. They help people with food and even shelter. What the Salvation Army does; "In this new century, The Salvation Army is serving more people in the USA than ever before. We are already seeing large increases in the number of Americans seeking the basic necessities of life - food, shelter, and warmth. More than 30 million people received help from The Salvation Army in 2008, but the magnitude of the mission facing The Salvation Army in communities throughout the United States remains great.” I think this is a helpful organization because it helps people with many things that they face because of poverty. They are an organization that is proud of what they do for their community and they sure do a lot; they have helped millions of people.

About.com had a section called US Liberal Politics and I found an article from a lady named Deborah White, she said, “In January 2001, President Bush created, via Executive Order, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Since then, Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives were established at five federal agencies…And in February 2004, the President issued an Executive Order earmarking an astonishing $3.7 billion to be doled out to faith-based and other organizations.” I think this was a good thing on Bush’s part because places like churches help out people who are suffering from poverty in America. He contributed a lot of money to faith-based organizations. This was one of the best things I’ve heard that he has done that was pretty meaningful.

My community service reflects some aspects of our study this year in some way when it comes to the Health Care Bill. It is going to help some people who are struggling and in need of some assistance. The people who are poor and are suffering from poverty will be able to get care now that there is universal help for everyone. It is nice to think about because the people who are in deep need will be helped.


Part III
In order for my issue to be resolved, or at least made better, I feel that more people in America should step in and try to make a difference. More people should volunteer some of their time even just at their local food bank or any other non-profit organization that one is able to give back to their community or actually make a difference in a person’s life. I think the government should contribute some incentives towards these people that are suffering. I think more places should open up and more churches should give time to helping these people out. We live in one of the richest countries in the world; I think we should eradicate hunger. I feel that the government should put more of the money that they have towards helping people who need it, not use it to benefit their lives, because they honestly don’t need it as much as the people suffering from poverty in America do.

A few other ways this issue can be resolved are little things that people of the community can do. They can make rallies to make money to donate to the non-profit organizations; car washes can be done too. Meetings can be arranged and people can even hold a blog chat to think of ways to give back to the community. But I honestly think the best way is to volunteer at any local non-profit organization.

I volunteered my time at the Contra Costa Food Bank, the San Francisco Food Bank, and my most memorable service, at Glide. I did all of my hours with my cousins because I wanted them to experience what I was doing. Volunteering at the Food Bank, even though it was for a serious issue in America, it was a more fun experience to do with family and friends. We worked together and also had a good time talking and laughing. It is a more bonding experience even though we were helping out for a major cause. That is why I think more people should volunteer at their local food bank, they will enjoy it. At the end of the day, the person volunteering finds out by their project leader how many pounds they packaged by the end of just their 3 hour shift, and it is nice to hear how much was packaged in so little of time. And the project leader lets them know where all that food they just packaged is going, and how it is going to make a difference in the people’s lives who are suffering from poverty and hunger.

Now volunteering at the Glide made a huge impact on me. It was a non-profit organization that serves 3 meals a day. Now they have the main room for everyone, and then they have the Coffee House upstairs that only serve to handicap people and families; they get double of everything. On pancake days, which ended up being the day I volunteered on, they don’t give seconds, but any other day they do. So it was really sad to see people try and get seconds even though they knew they couldn’t, but they tried to be sneaky about it. It was sad to see them try and fight to get seconds…it really got to me. Another part that got to me was seeing this dad bring in his two kids. It is really sad to see what people have to go through, but it also made me happy to see an organization like this do what it does, and it made me feel good about myself knowing I was a part of it and that I made a difference in a person’s day. One lady that I will never forget smiled when she first walked in, and when she walked out. When she first saw us, she said “Oh good morning how are you today, today is so wonderful. Are you all well?” She was just so nice. It was incredible to see that even though she is facing poverty and hunger, she was very nice. I am definitely going to volunteer more of my time there, but just because I want to out of pure want. The people who come in to get food and the project leaders were all so nice that it has inspired me to want to volunteer there some more. It felt like everyone was just one big huge family.

Throughout my paper I have noticed that this issue sometimes gets unnoticed because not many people are doing anything about it and trying to make a difference, thus this issue doesn’t get closer to becoming solved. More people need to step in and try to make a difference. Shifts at a local Food Bank are only 3 hours, and so is volunteering at Glide; only 3 hours of a persons life that could change another person’s entire day who is suffering from poverty. It is a very good feeling, and I know, I have done it. I am going to try and influence people to start volunteering for fun. I am going to take some of my friends over to Glide to volunteer because I want my friends to see what I saw. I want them to see what people who suffer from poverty go through yet how they handle it. They are so appreciative of their lives that they put a smile on even thought they are going through so much. It is very uplifting because it makes the person volunteering look at their life differently and appreciate it more because they see how they look at their lives. I think it is very inspiring because it totally changed the way I looked at mine. I complain a lot about my life but just volunteering 3 hours of my time to help others changed the way I look at my life. I have come to appreciate it more because the fact that even though they go through all that they go through, they still appreciate theirs and try to just continue on each day. I must say they are the most inspiring people I have ever met. And I am thankful to have helped them.

San Francisco Food Bank

The first thing that stood out to me on the San Francisco Food Bank site was it's Hunger Facts:

"An estimated 49 million Americans are food insecure. Of those 49 million, almost 17 million are children and 5 million are seniors. Last year, over 37 million people used a Food Bank for emergency food assistance."

That is a lot of people. And it is sad to see what groups are affected more than others, or mainly just the fact that all of these groups of people are being affected by poverty and hunger this badly.

When I scrolled down on the page, it lists in bullet points the things they do providing for the people they serve. I think what they do is a great thing and I am glad places like these are around to help people in need. That is why I volunteer some of my time at the Contra Costa Food Bank; I like being a part of an organization like this.

Poverty in America Today

Poverty in America is such a big issue because it impacts the lives of many Americans. The site Poverty in America is all about this issue in America. It has information about what has been going on and a project someone can participate in to help.

Something in the site that stood out to me:

"According to our estimates in 2003, almost 25% of the nation's counties had low per-capita incomes below one half the national average or less, high unemployment, low labor force participation rates, and a high dependency on government transfer payments-all measures of economic distress."

That's a high percentage. That number seems to be increasing and citizens of the U.S. should step in and try to make a difference. The government could too. If nothing is done, that number will keep increasing and economic problems will plummet and just become more worse than they ever were.

ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods is a major company who owns many of the brands that we people of America Purchase, from Hunt's tomato ingredients to Wesson oil to even PAM cooking spray. This site contains many ways for people to check out healthier eating styles and even learn about the food a person consumes. ConAgra Foods though is a company who joined together with Feeding America to fight hunger in America.

The thing I like about this site is that it even helps someone manage a way to eat healthy even though they are on a low budget. It was said that people who usually don't have money are the more obese ones because they don't have the opportunity to spend their money on healthier and cheaper foods.

Child Hunger Ends Here

The site Child Hunger Ends Here has to mainly do with, at the moment, 2 organizations, ConAgra Foods and Feeding America, joining together to fight hunger in America, especially when it comes to children. This site lets someone find a local foodbank near them to help out, and informs them about the problems that people in America face; try to make people more aware of what's going on around them in America.

Feeding America seems like a major part of the "Child Hunger Ends Here" movement because on that site they let people know about a neighborhood rally they are having, and how people are able to donate food to them.

Organizations like these help fight hunger. Many more companies should step in and try to make a difference just like these places are. If more and more organizations stepped in to do just a little something, more and more people in America who are facing hunger wouldn't be unnoticed for any longer.

Poverty Causes Obesity

It used to be that people who have money were obese because they were able to buy whatever food they wanted, but now, people who face poverty are the ones who are more likely to become obese. And that is because they don't have enough money to buy the healthy foods they need to stay healthy, they only buy whatever their money can buy, and usually thats the cheap stuff, sweets.

Rush Limbaugh said something pretty interesting that this article mentioned:

"...food stamps provide for people to "buy Twinkies, Milk Duds, potato chips, six-packs of Bud, then head home to watch the NFL on one of two color TVs and turn off their cell phones, and that's poverty in the U.S."

I agree with this article, what he said was offensive and totally contradicts the truths about poverty. That isn't what it's about, it's about not having enough money to eat the healthy foods and the foods that are good for your body and those sweets and stuff are all what they can afford. It isn't a good thing, and that is why organizations need to spread out a little more and get their word out and try to do more things. Two organizations are joining together to make a difference. More should.

Organizations Joining Together

Organizations like ConAgra Foods and Feeding America are joining together to fight child hunger this Spring.

Their goal/what they are going to do:

"From March-May 2010, ConAgra Foods and Feeding America are working together to help end child hunger in communities all across the United States through the “Child Hunger Ends Here” promotion."

This is the kind of things that need to happen. Organizations like these two are good in this world because they are actually taking a step in trying to help out people in the U.S. who need it. These are both food organizations that help people out by giving them donated food because they are too poor to afford buying food, also because they are probably using the money they have to support themselves in the world, and there isn't enough for food.

Government Needs To Take Action Against Unemployment

Here is a little information from this site about unemployment:

"Nearly 15 million people are out of work -- 25.6 million if we count those who are working part-time because they can't find a full-time job or are too discouraged to go on looking. But there's no sense of urgency to create jobs coming from the White House or Congress."

"The Senate is set to vote on a $15 billion jobs bill that the the New York Times calls"so puny as to be meaningless."

I think the White House or Congress needs to more than what they are doing. According to the second quote above, the jobs bill isn't going to be doing much, its "meaningless." Unemployment is a big deal, especially in the U.S. It affects the lives of so many people. People can't find jobs because there aren't enough for everyone in this world. The government should step in and make more jobs, or create a project or organization that people can take part in.

Struggles in Connecticut

The impact of the health reform and the recession are taking a toll on the women in Connecticut, especially the ones who have kids.

Food Stamps barely cover a family's meal costs, if that. Yet poor women in Hartford, Connecticut are trading their food stamp benefits, at a discount, for cash because it's the only way they can get money for other necessities -- the gas bill, soap, shoes for the kids.

It is really sad to see what poverty can do to the lives of people in this world. These women have to trade in their only source of food to accomodate to their kids or other things to live. Food stamps aren't enough and we Americans should come up with an organization to help people in need like this. Or the government come up with some type of organization. The only idea I have in mind at the moment would be referring these people to seek help from their local Food Bank. People can go to the "Feeding America" site and see some more info and there is a link at the top where people can find their local food bank.

Stats of Poverty in America

Povery has always been major issues in America. In 2008, this image above shows many statistics about the intensity of poverty in the different areas of the U.S.

The site "Feeding America" has a list of statistics about the poverty in America in 2008:

• In 2008, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were in poverty.
• In 2008, 8.1 (10.3% percent) million families were in poverty.
• In 2008, 22.1 million (11.7 percent) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty.
• In 2008, 14 million (19 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
• In 2008, 3.6 million (9.7 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.

Hunger in the U.S.

Hunger is the major cause from poverty in America. Over the years it has been becoming worse. There are many families who, because they have no money, lose their homes and don't have any food to feed their kids and the rest of their family.

The site "Food Research and Action Center" is a site that informs people about fighting hunger in America. For 2008, the site lists some bullet points on facts about the problems, issues, and statistics of the increase of poverty, and therefore, hunger.

• Hunger and Poverty:
  
• 14.1 million children, or 19 percent of all children under age 18, were poor – a larger percentage than any other age group. This was an increase from 2007, when 13.3 million children (18 percent) lived in poverty.

• 6.3 million (8.5 percent) of all children under 18 lived in families with incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty level – that’s an annual income of $11,000.

• 21.3 percent of related children under age six in families lived in poverty.

• 9.7 percent of all Americans 65 and over, or 3.7 million elderly, were poor. This was unchanged from the previous year.

• The poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites was 8.6 percent, 24.7 percent for blacks, 23.2 percent for Hispanics, and 11.8 percent for Asians.

• 46.3 million did not have health insurance, an increase from 45.7 million in 2007.

• Median income fell to $50,300, a drop of 3.6 percent from 2007.

These statistics are scary. People in our community and around the world need to step in and try to help out. There are many ways to help out, and one of them is to take any extra food that you don't want and donate it to your local Food Bank by going to the site "Feeding America" and at the top there is a tab, "Find a Food Bank" and find one in your area.

Hunger and Human Development

"Children in the United States have the highest poverty rate of all age groups." Isn't that sad to hear? That little children who were just born into this world and haven't done a thing yet, are the ones suffering the most?

The site "Bread for the World Institute" is a very factual site that has a lot of information about poverty and hunger in America. Like I said, infants are suffering the most, and here is some key bullet point facts one should know about this issue and how hunger and poverty is affecting infants, and even young adults:

"Hunger and Human Development" - Infants (12 months or younger) that did not receive WIC benefits because of access problems were more likely to be underweight, short, and perceived as having fair/poor health than were WIC recipients.

• In children aged 1-5, food insufficiency is associated with high prevalence of fair/poor health and iron deficiency, and with greater likelihood of experiencing stomachaches, headaches, and colds.
  
• In children aged 6-11, food insufficiency is associated with low arithmetic scores and the likelihood of repeating a grade, having seen a psychologist, and having had difficulty getting along with other children.
  
• In children aged 15-16, food insufficiency is associated with depression, having had thoughts of death, a desire to die, and having attempted suicide.

People need to step in and help. It is sad to see that infants and young adults face these problems because of hunger and poverty. People don't realize the affect is has on the younger generation. If this issue keeps on going and doesn't get solved, the younger generation won't be as successful in life as we were hoping for them to be.

Hunger Across America

The issue of hunger in American sometimes goes unnoticed. Well, I believe everyone knows about it, how there are many people in the world who suffer from poverty and don't have any money to go out and buy themselves some food, which in their case they face hunger.

The site "Feeding America" let's people now about the many problems in America associated with hunger. Here is a little bit of information people should know:

"Hunger 101" - "Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. We all know and are in contact with people affected by hunger, even though we might not be aware of it.

These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days. Most of us simply have no idea. It’s time to educate ourselves about America’s hunger problem."

People should be aware and "educate" themselves about this issue. It is a big deal. It may not be affecting you, but a lot of people in this world are suffering for something they couldn't even control themselves.

Poverty in America

Poverty has been a major issue in America, even today. Poverty can lead to hunger, malnutrition, and even infectious diseases. People around the world struggle from this depressing issue, and there are ways to help. Donating to nonprophit organizations are very charitable and helpful for the people in need, for example, your local food bank.

Poverty.com is a site where you can learn a lot about poverty and the effects that come from it. In this site, and Iwould like everyone who reads this to do this, you are able to print out a letter to send to your government regarding International Aid. Every letter sent out contributes to the 0.7% in International Aid. I am going to do this, and I hope you do too.

Here is a video of the effects of Poverty and what it does to the lives of Americans:

The Purpose of the Contra Costa Food Bank

For my community service, I serve my time at my local Contra Costa Food Bank; they have a purpose:

Mission: "The mission of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano is to alleviate hunger and provide an efficient, coordinated system for collecting and distributing food that reduces food waste and increases public awareness regarding hunger and food security issues in Contra Costa and Solano counties."

What We Do: "The Food Bank is a centralized warehouse that stores and distributes donated and purchased perishable and nonperishable food items. We distribute food directly to low-income people at community sites and make food available for other nonprofit organizations serving the ill, needy and infants."

I want to be a part of this mission. There are many people out there in the world who have lost their jobs, especially in this economy, and no longer have any incoming money to purchase food to eat. Food Banks step in and help out those people by giving them food. I want to help people. Knowing that what I do can make a difference in someones life just makes my day.

It can be sad because some people are embarrassed to go to Food Banks and get food. They shouldn't be. They are there to help people, that is their job. I would love to help distribute the food, to see the emotion on the persons face that I have helped, but packaging everything is just as good. I know that what I am doing is helping change the lives of other people.

My Community Service

For my community service that I am going to start doing, I am going to be spending my time at the Contra Costa Food Bank in Concord. I want to help sort out cans and put them in boxes for distributing. I have spent many hours here before and loved it, I always had a good time, even just helping out without getting paid.