Hunger is not only a growing problem in Chicago. In an editorial today, the Daily Herald writes that some suburbanites are struggling to put food on the table too, and food pantries that play a crucial role for strapped families aren't receiving the necessary support:
The pantries, in turn, can find it very difficult to keep up with the demand. Requests for food from area pantries is up about 20 percent this year - at a time when there is less food on the shelves to begin with. Donations from traditional sources, such as goods from school food drives, tend to come in at a lower volume in the summer months. But hundreds - in some cases thousands - of people are still coming in for help in feeding their families.
While pantries wait for some federal assistance in the form of Sen. Dick Durbin's Hunger Free Communities Act, donations are always welcome. The Herald's "Giving Garden" program is a good place to start:
The Daily Herald's Giving Garden program also provides food to the hungry by encouraging gardeners to drop off fresh produce at one of the participating food pantries and agencies. In the eight years the program has been in existence, suburban gardeners have donated tens of thousands of pounds of produce to area pantries. To inquire about donating to the Giving Garden, e-mail us at givinggarden@dailyherald.com.
(H/T Prairie State Blue)
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