We need a hunger to share

One of our tougher story choices these days is not if we’ll publish a story about someone needing help, but choosing which agency or individual should get the headline. The abundance of these stories is too telling, and the number of people in need is mounting.

Reporter Donna Wright found a measure of this need in her 1A story today, “Making it stretch.” In the past year, the number of households using food stamps in Manatee County has gone up almost 50 percent, Wright learned. She also wrote about efforts to help stem that hunger, particularly a food network that operates through Cornerstone Ministries.

Manatee County has eight host sites for SHARE sponsored by local churches and community centers. Participants place orders for food packages once a month, ranging from meat to vegetables and fruit. As Donna notes in her story, the only requirement to participate is to volunteer either for the network or in some other community capacity for two hours a month, wherever participants choose.

I think we ought to all fulfill that requirement, regardless of whether we need the food package. That might help turn the tide.

Joan