To Bed With No Supper

Have you ever been sent to bed without your supper? That happened to me once when I was a child. I grumbled and griped about what my mother had fixed for dinner.   Now I can't even recall what the offending entree was, but I do remember my dad telling me that people in Africa were starving. "Well, let's send this to them," I cheekily replied. "Enough!" my father roared, slapping his palms on the tabletop and causing the glasses and silverware to rattle. "You, young lady, may head to bed and chew on your own words for supper!" Off, I went, with my stomach growling, "Hey, that didn't look so unappetizing! Why did you complain!"

Many Arlington County residents went to bed hungry last night, just as I did so many years ago. However, their failing wasn't ungratefulness, but poverty. The Arlington Food Assistance Center estimates that 15,000 residents in Arlington County are "food insecure," meaning that these people often cut the dollars they spend on groceries to make ends meet. They could be seniors who choose to buy medicines rather than food, young dual career families with high child-care costs, or low-income families who simply don't make enough wages to meet the high cost of living in Northern Virginia.

Ken April, AFAC's Monday Night Volunteer Supervisor

I spent Monday evening at the Arlington Food Assistance Center where I helped other members from my church bag food. There I met volunteer coordinator Ken April, who has volunteered at AFAC for the past 20 years. When I asked him what motivated him to continue all these years, he simply said "This is where I believe I may help the most people."

Our task was easy Monday night. Simply pick up one item from five different piles and stuff them in a grocery sack and tie it off. The items included one can of soup, one can of beans, one can of tomatoes, one can of vegetables and one package of pasta. I wondered as I bagged what recipe Google would return if I searched for a way to combine minestrone, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, canned peas and pasta shells.  Hmm!  Such a combination does not sound very appealing!

Some of the cans I picked up were dented, but Ken told me to disregard the dents and bag them anyway. "Only discard cans that bulge," he said. Bulging cans are ones compromised by bacteria.

The food was donated by local grocery stores and restaurants.  Some of the items came from canned food drives sponsored by AFAC.  During the summer growing season, AFAC volunteers make the rounds of farmers' markets to pick up fresh produce at closing time. 

September has been designated Hunger Action Month by AFAC. Planned events include canned food drives at grocery stores, special nights at Arlington restaurants when owners will donate percentages of their proceeds to AFAC and "Plot Against Hunger," a campaign to harvest fresh produce at local farms every Saturday in September.



From left to right: me, Kelli, Maggie and Mun

All in all, Kelli, Maggie, Mun and I assembled 300 bags of food on Monday.  On the average, the AFAC serves 1300 families each week.  That means approximately 1000 children this week will not go to bed without their supper.