Help Feed Hungry Children in This Time of Crisis
December 22, 2008
Gracie Mae holds her shivering baby in her thin arms as they stand outside the Bosco Food Kitchen, waiting for it to open. A small threadbare blanket is all that shields the little child from the biting cold.
My heart goes out to them the minute I touch their icy cold hands, and see their wind-chapped faces. “We walked over two miles to get here, Father,” Gracie told me. “There’s no food at home, and not much heat either. I have to bring my baby to Bosco or she’ll go hungry.”
The line stretches farther than I’ve ever seen it. The effects of the failing economy stand before me: Little children, elders and day laborers wait, trembling in the cold, for what may be their only meal of the day. The icy wind blows through their thin jackets and patched, worn clothes.
The door opens and the crowd of hungry poor scrambles inside, bringing a blast of freezing air with them. I can see their relief as they enter the warm room, filled with the good smell of home-cooked stew. Many linger long over their bowls, stretching their time before facing the cold wind and coming rain. I am ever grateful that Bosco is a refuge for the hungry poor of Selma.
How hungry the children are! Several ask me for seconds of stew and rice, clearly their only meal of the day. I can tell by the way Grace’s baby Jazmyne hungrily uses both hands and her spoon, that she doesn’t get enough to eat at home.
Every day during these bitter cold weeks—and in the freezing weeks ahead—Bosco will provide a hot nutritious meal for those who go without so many of the barest necessities.
When I talk with families and elders, I am heartsick over the troubles they face. Grace’s family has no water since their pipes froze three weeks ago and the landlord refuses to fix them. Elders who worked hard all their lives can’t make it from month to month. Grandmothers who watch over little ones while their parents work for low wages cannot feed their grandbabies. They all depend on home cooked meals at Bosco.
Hunger and poverty are increasing daily in rural Alabama. In November, we served nearly 2,000 meals more at Bosco than we did one year ago. We often serve more than 300 people a day.
Our record cold temperatures are a huge worry for those already suffering from job layoffs and illness. Living in substandard homes with broken windows and leaky roofs, they cannot afford the cost of propane or electricity to heat their homes. Children suffer.
At our rural food pantries, outreach ministers get calls every week from families—often in tears—because they have no food to eat. Sister Rosemary gives food bags to 150 families each month. An 80 year old woman called, sobbing. Struggling with cancer, she can barely make ends meet. “When they are in tears, begging for food, how can I say ‘no,’” she said.
I cannot say “no” to the hungry poor. Food bills are piling up because I cannot say no to precious little ones like Jasmyne who depend on me. I cannot say no to a family burned out from their home. I cannot say no to an elder suffering from cancer.
As we observe the 25th anniversary of feeding the poor at Bosco, I know I cannot close the door and say “no” to the hundreds who count on me for their daily bread.
I so desperately need your help to meet the critical needs of the hungry poor today and in the cold winter days ahead. Rising food and heating costs and a startling increase in the number of hungry poor place heavy demands on our already strained budget. During these critical times, the poor cry out more than ever. Please help me respond to their cries. Let me serve in your name these precious children of God.
Can you imagine what it feels like to go hungry, to face every day knowing you cannot feed your children? Your gift of $15 or $20 will help buy the meat, rice, tomatoes and carrots needed to make beef stew for today’s meal.
I know you are struggling with the economy just as we are. I pray for you every day and for God’s sheltering hand in your life. Your self-sacrificing gift to the Missions means children like Jasmyne will not go hungry this winter.
Our founder, Father Frank Casey, S.S.E., wrote of other troubled times, ministering to Selma’s destitute in the first years of the Missions. Visiting his neighbors living in stone-cold shacks with no shelter from the icy rain and winds, Fr. Casey often used his last nickel to bring wood for their fires and soup for their hungry stomachs. He believed Christ’s command to feed the hungry, clothe those in need and visit the sick.
His loving ministry to his poor neighbors reminds me of the love you share with the hungry through your loving gifts. “Without love I am nothing.” 1 Cor. 13:2.
In His Service,
Rev. Richard Myhalyk, S.S.E.
