We’ve adapted to the new normal: the daily zoom meetings; the wallet-phone-keys-mask-hand sanitizer check-list before we walk out the door; learned new terms like PPE, SIP and IFR; and have read all about antibodies and vaccine development. We’ve counted our blessings when our families and loved ones remain uninfected. We’ve learned new diversions: fallen in love with Randy Rainbow and the Cuomo brothers; and have never shared so many gifs. We’ve learned how to safely social distance and drink chardonnay in each other’s backyards and on front porches.
We’re ready for it to be over, but the virus isn’t done, so we’ve buckled down and resigned to keep plugging along safely. It can all be so overwhelming, between the news and the perceived lack of control. And, we want to do something bigger, something loving, something kind. We want to make a difference, to help; but, it’s hard to know how to make an impact. The bright, good news is just one single action, one single click of a button, one single donation, can make a difference in a family’s life.
Even prior to COVID-19, one out of four children in LA and one out of five in Orange County went to bed hungry. This problem didn’t disappear when the pandemic swept through our country; sadly, for many families, the nightmare has compounded in recent months.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest district in the nation, nearly 80% of children live in poverty and struggle with hunger. School lunch and breakfast programs are the only meals some children can count on. LAUSD students will not be returning to classrooms this fall, many parents are still unable to work due to COVID-19 closures, and the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefits are ending. This combination puts so many families, many of them our own neighbors, in jeopardy.
In the midst of this crisis, the LA Food Bank is doing its best to help families and children facing hunger, but the needs they are trying to fill have never been as broad or as urgent. They are working with local school districts and with hundreds of their partner agencies in neighborhoods across the county to safely get badly needed healthy food to children and their families, but COVID-19 means more need and more unforeseen expenses. The pandemic and its economic ripple effects are being felt throughout LA County. We’ve all seen the heartbreaking news coverage of the long lines of families in their cars waiting patiently for a box of food.
In a world with so much going wrong right now, sometimes it can feel impossible to find our way to the good.
Eight years ago, when I first heard about how many children in Los Angeles and Orange County were going to bed hungry, I was so horrified that I knew I had to act. Every year for the past eight years, my company NorthStar Moving has hosted a community food drive called Let’s Send Hunger Packing. This year, the need is greater than ever, so we teamed up with Groundwork Coffee and Compass Real Estate to get the word out about making donations to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
Kids and their families need our support more than ever. Our Let’s Send Hunger Packing Food Drive is completely online this year to meet the critical safety and financial needs of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The online food drive is a super simple way to make an impact. Just click to make a donation and you are putting food on the tables of families who desperately need it right now.
When you’re telling 2020 pandemic stories to your grandchildren, when COVID-19 is a distant memory, not only will you talk about the masks, the TP shortage, the social distancing, the virtual school and meetings, you’ll talk about the simple acts of COVID kindness. The beautiful, kind acts that proved we are strong, we are better together, we can tackle anything.
The future is uncertain, and that uncertainty sometimes feels so much bigger than us. But it’s so important to remember that even a small, good action can make a world of difference for someone in need. A simple donation can mean a family in your community can eat tonight. When we work together as a community, we can make sure all of our children are fed. Their five dollars, her fifty dollars, your five hundred dollars – together we can truly make an impact. Please join us in sending hunger packing!
Click here to make a donation to the Let’s Send Hunger Packing Food Drive, directly to the LA Regional Food Bank, and make a difference for a neighbor in need today!
