The persistent snow over the weekend afforded me an opportunity to do something I don't do very successfully or too often: think. I sat in my living room with one eye on the television watching German soccer with the other one on the window watching the flakes outside accumulate while hoping however much it was, it would be our last of the season.
Probably like you, I take my warm home for granted.
Let’s face it, even though we gripe sometimes, our lives, are pretty cozy. It’s easy to think everyone lives this way because we may not know, or know of, anyone who wakes up in a cold house and has to choose between food or fuel, for themselves and their family every morning.
During the holidays we’re better at seeing those in our community who need a helping hand; it’s the nature of the season. But the need for assistance goes on all year round.
Which brings us to now. We all understand hard times, the money is tight times and we think we know what that feels like, but if you're reading this, believe me we are better off, vastly better off, then many who live not just in our state but perhaps on our street.
I have never needed to make a 'Heat or Eat' decision and I hope, neither have you.
New England winters can be bone-numbingly cold in the best of times, but when you're choosing to pay your heating bill or to buy groceries, we're looking at a decision that can freeze your heart and crush your hope.
In a nation that prides itself on how we care for and about one another, Heat or Eat should be a turn of phrase none of us has ever heard or used.
Like so many others when I visit the Stop & Shop in the Norwichtown Common I add a canned good or two or box of pasta (right there at the check-out) to my order as a donation to the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry but I have no illusions, nor do you, as we're walking away from the cashier that we've 'taken care of' that problem.
Regular donations to agencies such as the Connecticut Food Bank too often feel like we're using a teaspoon to empty an ocean, especially when nearly half a millionConnecticut residents every month need some form of assistance from an agency supported by the Food Bank.
Over 140,000 of our children are "food insecure" (= no reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable and nutritious food). That is at least 140,000 too many. The solution to this problem isn't in Washington or Hartford, it's in each of us.
Today is Ash Wednesday, marking the start of Lent. How about this year, instead of giving something up, we give something to those who are helping others? Time, talent, treasure, it's your choice.
Together, we can change the world, one meal at a time, every time.
-bill kenny
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