I have never been hungry. Well, let me be more specific — I have never been hungry enough to put my health in jeopardy. And, if you don’t count the time I was a couple meals short in my grub supply on a 50-mile hike in the Olympics, I have never had a specific worry about when or if my next meal was going to happen.
I am in the majority on Bainbridge Island. Most residents of Bainbridge Island do not have serious hunger concerns.
And, while it might be easy to think there are no hunger problems on Bainbridge Island — you just need to look at information provided by the Helpline House food bank to get the real answers. The food bank serves 225 households per week — with about 100 children in those households. Just this summer, they have distributed 50-60 food bags for children.
This past June, Becky and I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to spend a year working there and taking every spare moment to explore the outdoor recreation opportunities that area has to offer. One of the things we heard about Salt Lake City from friends and acquaintances was that you don’t see a big homeless population there. So, when I walk down the street a couple of blocks from where I live and see homeless folks sleeping in the park and lining up at the food bank, I worry about the apparent blinders we have positioned to shield ourselves from seeing these conditions.
The hunger problem in the world is not a scientific or medical dilemma. This is not curing cancer or sending a human to Mars. Honestly, I believe it is a political, economic and distribution problem. There is enough food in the world to feed the world. I think that is an accepted fact.
Oxfam, of Canada, states “The world produces 17 percent more food per person today than 30 years ago.”
According to some experts, the Earth’s population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion over the next 33 years — and we already produce enough food in the world for that many people.
We can all help bring relief to the problem in a real way. The BI-NK CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, starting at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church.
Over the past 23 years, local walkers have raised well more than $800,000 for CROP Hunger Walk. Seventy-five percent of the funds go to Church World Service for it ongoing world-wide assistance programs. CWS even jumps in to help with natural disaster relief, like recent hurricanes. Because of CROP Hunger Walks, when disaster strikes, CWS already has emergency supplies packed and ready to send immediately; no need to wait for special fundraising drives.
Of the remaining 25 percent of the funds, 20 percent goes to Helpline House and 5 percent to Fishline of North Kitsap. In North Kitsap, Fishline served 4,000 households in 2017 with a million pounds of food.
So — here’s the “rah, rah” part — come and walk. If you don’t have time to sign up beforehand, just show up at the church at about 1:30 p.m. to donate and/or walk.
We need to continue to raise awareness. If you can’t make it out on Sunday, go to https://www.crophungerwalk.org/bainbridgeislandwa/Donate and give to the event. As in the past several years, there is an anonymous donor who has offered to match every dollar raised in the walk.
We can make a difference!
David Beemer is a member of the BI/NK CROP Hunger Walk Committee.
