The change of seasons from winter to spring and spring to winter is an eye-opening exercise at my home. These last few weeks we are taking up all that we have set out! Cushions and patio furniture gets stored, flower beds get leveled and are mulched or composted. We also take our cars in for winter check-ups, and we usually have our furnace looked at, too.
In other parts of the world people are getting ready to face the hunger season. This is the point in time when all foreign aid is used up and when what crops did survive a drought are all that remain between a family and famine. Often the mother eats barely enough to stay alive just to have a few bites to give to her children. She is beginning to prepare right now. Her entire family borders on malnutrition, and they will now face even less.
With the change of season where I live (Midwest of the United States) there are significant holidays celebrated in cooler and cold weather. All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is the first, and while my family does not celebrate Thanksgiving as a memoriam to the first European settlers; we haven’t even begun to decide whether we will have turkeys or something more “us” for our family dinner on that November day. We always have far too much food, and this gluttony continues through to our Christmas.
I advocate for hungry people because every time I am instrumental in helping one more person become aware of our obligation as the leader of the free world to model the kind of humanitarian aid that makes a difference in the first 1,000 days of life (gestation through the second birthday), one more person will contact those who represent her or him in Congress. I advocate for hungry people because I am a Christian, and Jesus clearly said that anytime we feed a hungry person, we are feeding him.
Join me. Support the 1,000 Days Campaign.
Inez Torres Davis is director for justice.