If you have time - and if you don't, make time - work at a food bank. The people who come through there almost all work for a living, but they can't make ends meet. They are a missed paycheck or a hefty doctor's bill away from total destitution. One guy I helped today had been "outdoors" all summer and only moved indoors when his stuff got wet and too heavy to carry. He had to get all his food in microwaveable portions, because his place has no stove.
All of these programs are critically necessary because the GOP Congress has insisted on cutting SNAP and demonizing those on it. Some GOP hellhole (Tennessee? Florida?) insisted on drug testing SNAP recipients (most of whom are children). They found a lower percentage of drug users using SNAP than the population at large.
Most of the people I saw today were white, had a job or were retired. A few were recent immigrants (from Eastern Europe) with jobs and families. Quite a few had obvious mental health issues and/or cognitive weaknesses.
We are the wealthiest nation on earth and we have millions of citizens relying on charity to eat.
And you owe it to yourself to look these people in the face.
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