I think our country has been going through the five stages of grief for our sinking economy: I know that I've already done Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression.
I think I've finally come around to Acceptance.
How else to explain my strange departure this week from my usual favorite blogging topic? (You know -- ME.)
This week, my posts have all been about helping others: Tips for disaster preparedness and a plug for a corporate program that helps people who have been displaced by disaster.
The current recession has all the makings of an economic tsunami. I know it's largely man-made, but throughout history, booms and recessions have followed one another as surely as winter comes after summer. We're all being affected by a situation that is out of our control (just like a hurricane or earthquake). And that leads to feelings of helplessness.
Los Angeles is not the friendliest of towns. I do not see much of my neighbors, and I think they're OK with not seeing much of me. So my most indelible memory of the 1994 Northridge earthquake was what occurred after the shaking stopped: Neighbors who had been strangers coming together and looking out for one another. It was beautiful.
I think the recession is sparking a similar reaction. People are fighting that helpless feeling by pitching in. And that's a good thing, because the need is great.
Earlier this week, I joined other LA-area bloggers (Joy Unexpected, Los Angelista, The Spohrs are Multiplying and LeahPeah) at a volunteer event at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which fights hunger in our area by supplying food to some 900 different agencies throughout Southern California.
"Demand for our services has increased 41% since the start of the recession," reported Food Bank volunteer coordinator Ana Martinez, who led the bloggers on a tour of the massive warehouse structure. It was a little bit reminiscent of Costco, with crates of food stacked high to the ceilings, interspersed with assembly line areas, where volunteers and employees can inspect food donations and assemble assistance packages.
Ana told us that the Southern California food pantries and soup kitchens serve over 600,000 individuals in a typical year (so you can imagine how many residents will benefit in atypical 2009).
Food Bank products come from three major sources: Food industry donations (from several sources, including all the area's major supermarket chains), USDA commodities and food purchased from monetary donations.
The LA mom bloggers were put to work on a project we all could relate to: the Food Bank's Backpack Program, which serves around 400 children at risk of hunger: Each Friday, the kids are given a backpack with food to carry them through the weekend, when they don't have the benefit of free school lunches. "They come back to school on Mondays focused and ready to work," Ana told us, "because they're not distracted by being hungry."
For the next couple of hours, we cleaned out backpacks and stuffed each of them with a big box of cereal, a bottle of fruit juice, packaged macaroni and cheese, and canned mac and beef and chili.
I know. It doesn't sound like a lot - but even a little makes a difference.
Because the food is donated, there IS an abundance of canned and processed products. But the Food Bank makes an effort to balance that out with their Rapid Distribution program of good, fresh produce and other perishables. "Given that many agencies have very limited refrigeration, this allows nutritious food to get to recipients at agency sites, primarily food pantries," the organization's website explains.
Our work went quickly; we all agreed that assembling the backpacks was really easy (and not a lot different from collating classroom materials for PTA). Plus, we had fun and walked away with the knowledge that we had done something to help families who are struggling through this very difficult time.
I'm thankful to Yvonne of Joy Unexpected for organizing our Food Bank visit for Quaker Oats' GO project. I was especially looking forward to participating because my daughter's Bat Mitzvah project is to raise funds for a local pantry (which is one of the hundreds that is supported by Los Angeles Regional Food Bank).
The LA area bloggers who were at the event all talked about organizing another one in the near future. The Food Bank needs volunteers ALL THE TIME (and spring is an especially busy time of year, thanks to the National Association of Letter Carriers' annual Mother's Day food drive).
Until we get our act together, I've set up a virtual drive here on the Internet. I've set myself a lofty goal of raising $1000. It's really lofty when you see that I only seeded it with a $10 donation of my own to start - but I figure if I can reach 100 people here who each donate $10, we can do it. Every dollar donated allows the Food Bank to distribute $5 worth of food, so it's money well-spent.
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