Childhood Hunger
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Summary:
Congress must help avert a crisis at this bank.
June 5
Hunger is increasing as food bank shelves empty
William Kanteres
Concord Monitor
There is a dangerous run on my favorite bank. It is seeing more withdrawals than deposits daily, posing a dire threat to the community. Although this crisis has been well-documented and widely reported in the media, there is no public outcry from Congress for an immediate and massive bailout.
My local bank, the New Hampshire Food Bank, has been paying a much-needed dividend to the state through its 384 branch agencies for more than 25 years and is now faced with a major liquidity issue. If this bank’s vault is emptied, nearly 20,000 families will be forced to turn elsewhere for their only hope of an affordable, nutritious meal. The problem is, there is no elsewhere.
This is not a problem for one bank in one state. We are on the threshold of a systemic meltdown in the battle to end hunger throughout America. I fear that the crisis will hit critical mass as we go into the summer months when most school feeding programs shut down just as food and cash donations to local food banks go on vacation as well. Throw in a worsening global economy, rising local unemployment and a lack of congressional focus, and we are surely headed for a perfect storm that will be difficult for all of us to weather. Why don’t we declare a “systemic crisis” when every food bank in the country is struggling to restock its shelves everyday?
These bankers don’t get obscene bonuses, lavish offices or second homes on Nantucket. They don’t travel by private jet and are more apt to know what the local soup kitchen is serving than which restaurant has the best wine list in town.
My local bank struggles to pay the bills even in a good economy. The scary thing is, if this system fails, society will be forced to pay the price in the form of increased health care costs, increased cost of social services and an increase in crime.
Sadly, the heaviest cost will be borne by the children of the bank’s customers - local families who are down on their luck. These children will obviously suffer from emotional trauma and worsening physical health but they, and the nation as a whole, will also pay the long-term cost of the damage that hunger and malnourishment cause to their learning capabilities and the subsequent loss of educational opportunities.
We must all be a part of this bailout. There are many organizations and events working toward the cause of ending hunger. If you can donate time, food or money, please do. At the least, call your senator or congressman and let them know that you expect them to fully support the Obama administration’s commitment to ending childhood hunger by 2015. Putting our tax dollars to work in this bank rescue plan will make us all proud.
William Kanteres of Manchester serves on the board of directors of Share Our Strength, a national anti-hunger organization.
