In every corner of our country, there’s people who could use some Holiday cheer. Feeding America says that 47 million Americans are food insecure..and 14 million of them are children. Food insecurity means that these folks are struggling to get enough food to eat during their day. Truth is that many people need help getting enough to eat at all times of the year. This includes 7 million seniors, who often have special diet needs due to health conditions. So, if you are donating canned food, please consider looking for “heart healthy” or “low sodium” or “reduced sodium” as a donation choice. It helps safely feed needy people with medical conditions, such as high blood pressure.
We hear the bells ringing outside the malls and stores every holiday season. It’s the Salvation Army red kettle bell ringers asking for some spare change. Whether it’s the Holiday Season or any season, the Salvation Army is a wonderful organization that has outreaches to the homeless and the hungry. For Christmas, the Salvation Army channels toys and food donations toward needy families as late as Christmas Eve. Here in Milwaukee, the Salvation Army puts on a great community meal where one can walk in and get Christmas dinner, either sit down or carry out. The Salvation Army has great organization to help lift turn down lives back up productive lives in our communities, but they are totally run on donations.
Helping out can certainly include helping to stuff boxes to stuffing plates with food as a community meal. Feeding America and Hunger Task Force locally needs people to help out in warehouses and distributions at sites. You can also give money, and often many organizations prefer money, at times, because they can take the money and buy what they need now. If a food pantry needs healthy food, they can but if they don’t have it.
One of the most wonderful things we can do around the Holidays is to light up a needy child’s world. Giving a new toy to a child is about more than being Santa. It’s about planting a seed of hope in a child in need. Children also love books with pictures, and most of the railroad books on Amazon are picture books of locomotives and trains. Books for kids should be written with simple plots and at the grade level of the child.
Image a wonderful book about the rescue of two needy children around Christmas time. One such book is Chessie Takes a Train Trip, by Thomas W. Dixon, JR., comes from the C&O Historical Society. In the story, Chessie rescues two orphan children and is a heroine to all people. Such a book provides kids reading practice and such a story of Chessie helping people in need gives hope and models our Railroad Kitten with the traits of concern for the well-being of others. Also, it presents the image that we all have the ability to help people in need on our own level. Kindness and hope are within reach, and not just a Christmas wish list. This book is my favorite gift to children and those organizations that give gifts to children, including those that help children struggle to learn to read.
