Aug 21 : Frustrating Govt. Outrage

FRUSTRATING GOVT. OUTRAGE

Last week I went up to SHARE to get the monthly pickup / delivery of food for our Food Cupboard. SHARE acts as the conduit for government support to community organizations such as ours. We, West Girard Community Council, run the Food Cupboard in partnership with North Star Bar and East Park Revitalization Alliance.

I honestly did not have high hopes, but I certainly wasn't prepared for the outrage that I would soon find.

Last month the state hit a new low by not giving us anything. That's right: ZERO. Not a reasonable amount that might have been scaled back, but ZERO. I didn't think their lack of support could be equalled, but I was wrong. This month they matched last month's hard-heartedness by again giving us ZERO.

And the federal government is now not too far behind. While the federal government has been giving us an amount of food that has been decreasing little by little each month, this month they appeared to be in a race to the bottom with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We got only ONE item to give out: pasta.

To put this in perspective, a couple years ago we often had seven to ten items to put in each family's bag. While this program is certainly not to be considered "weekly shopping", it was always intended to be a supplement to help tide people over. ... But now it's turning out to barely even do that.

I personally believe in the phrase coined by our founders that our government should be "of the people, by the people, and for the people". I see the government as all of us coming together to make the USA the best that it can be. That includes everything from helping businesses prosper and compete in the global economy, but also includes helping those of us who might be down to their last dollar.

Budgets are always under discussion and agitation. How much to spend on various items. Add some money here, take away some there. Budget wrangling has gone on for centuries at least. Last month Harrisburg officials were proud of the budget that they passed. Budgets should be balanced. But whatever else happens in the realm of budgets, cuts should not be made on the backs of the poor, or those who are most vulnerable.

Government's answer to our current hunger crisis through the Food Cupboard program needs to be more than one, two, or three items per household, more than a bag of pasta. The poor should not have to be the ones to foot the bill.