Feeding L.A.

The local late night news streams city traffic jams, street vendors crowding for space, the latest stock market trends, the violence of the day, and maybe even a glimpse of war torn countries so very far away, but what about the hidden tragedy? It’s the nearly indescribable human suffering that doesn’t even make a blip before the next commercial airs. What we don’t see and often choose to ignore, are the hungry children of Los Angeles.

Yes, it’s tough to imagine and statistics are hard to come by, but amidst the bright city lights, the skyscrapers from which posters are made, and the strong visitor pull of the town, Los Angeles actually harbors over 1 million hungry children eligible for government-subsidized meals. This stat only covers the children who can be tracked through school records, with many others virtually unaccounted for, who are further sinking into the abyss of L.A. hunger.

Some hungry children can be found on the streets, others at home anxiously waiting for their working poor parents to open the door with some type of food, and still others having succumbed to a life of hunger.

You don’t have to look far to find hungry children. Over the freeway pass, just the next city over, outside the office building window on the street below, at the corner elementary school, or maybe sitting right beside you, are the hungry children of L.A.

The children of L.A. so desperately need us. This is what we do. We started out providing assistance to children and families right outside our doors. While we continue to provide prompt assistance to disasters victims, the hungry, and those without health care across the globe, we don’t lose sight of where it all began and how the need in our own community continues to grow.

We have a Los Angeles based warehouse, in constant need of donations. Local churches and various organizations pick up food from us and then donate it to the people around the city. This is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for years. As we launch the Feeding L.A. campaign as a reminder to Help the Children right here at home, it’s not just meant to spark the drive for donations and volunteer signups, it also serves as a tangible way to maintain our focus on the needy of all the world, near and far.

There are many charities out there, and a multiple of causes to choose from, but let us not overlook the hungry so close to home. Help the Children is Feeding L.A. Join us!