31 Days of Social Issues - Hunger in The Unites States

It has been a couple of days since I have posted. I have gone back to work and I will use the next four days to get caught up.

This is the Second day of 31 Social Issues and I will be blogging about Hunger within The United States. Since the US is considered one of the richest countries in the world, the previous statement is so ludicrous to me. We produce more than enough food in the US to feed our hungry. But, I believe our government is more concerned with feeding the poor and hungry of other nations. We have a real need in our own country. We need to take care of our own before we hand our provisions out to other countries.

31 Days of Social Issues

In an earlier post, I said that I was a die hard conservative and that is very true. But, I do have a tender heart towards social issues. So, I have decided to devote 31 days to a different social issue each day.

DAY ONE -WORLD HUNGER

With my conservative viewpoints, most people would believe that I was against every social injustice in their world.  Not, always the case.

In this day and age, there should never be a reason for world hunger. One definition of world hunger is the want and scarcity of food in a country. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that over 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the world, or one in eight were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 210-2012.

Children are the largest number of victims of undernutrition. Due to their undernurtition, childen suffer over 160 days of illnesses. Undernutrition is responsible for at least over 5 million deaths a year within the world.

Homeless in Alabama

Homelessness is something none of us like to talk about. It makes most of us very uncomfortable. Wikipedia defines Homelessness as a person without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless, for whatever particular reason are unable to maintain a secure and safe dwelling.

The total Homeless population for the State of Alabama is over 4,600 people including over 500 Veterans. No one deserves to be homeless especially not someone who put their life in danger to defend our nation. In the Shoals Area, including Franklin, Lauderdale and Colbert County there are over 200 children. In my opinion, that is a travesty and an embarrassment.

Forgive others

Forgive....hmm. That is one of the most difficult things for all of us to do no matter the circumstances. We must always forgive others for the wrongs they have caused us. Not for them, but for our sake. If you consider yourself a Christian, then you have to forgive what you consider to be the inexcusable offense. Because God has forgiven you for all that you have done. To be able to heal from the pain you have felt, you have to let it go. If you don't and hold onto that pain, you are giving others control over you. I am not saying their actions were acceptable at all, but I am willing to move on. I need to realize that I am just as much to blame for all the hurt and I have to forgive myself too in the process. During this process, I realize that the anger that I have held onto for so long has made me toxic. It affects every thing about my life.

So, I forgive and every day I become stronger and more at peace. Lastly, forgiving someone doesn't mean that I forget. It just means that I won't put myself out there to be hurt like I did again.

Give Freely

When I hear the term "Give Freely", I tend to think of giving to a cause or a charity of choice. But, I think what's more important in that term is giving freely of my time. I look after DeWayne, my mom and in the middle of job hunting...my time is much more valuable to me than giving a $10 monthly donation to a charity. I have always had a fondness for volunteering even since high school. When I was a senior at Deshler, I volunteered for the Tuscumbia Main Street Project. Since then, I have volunteered for several organizations including The American Cancer Society, The Alabama Kidney Foundation and The William Porter Foundation. Several years ago, DeWayne and I were members of the Florence Jaycees. Charity work was the foundation of the work we did there. As part of the Jaycees, we were involved in several local charities including The American Cancer Society and Safeplace.

The following is the Jaycee Creed:

Express Thanks

By definition, expressing our thankfulness as we focus on the present moment, on appreciating our lives as it is today and what has made it so. There are a multitude of things that have happened in my lifetime that I am thankful for. I am thankful for the wonderful and loving parents I was blessed with. I had two wonderful brothers who were 11 and 9 when I was born. I remember this story with Scott the youngest of the two. I was probably about 4 or 5 at the time, I didn't understand that he had homework and couldn't play with me. So, I told him that Mama would buy me some homework. I thought their purpose in life was to play with their baby sister. The oldest, Mike passed away years before he should have. I have always thought that things happened for a reason. But, I have been tested with that after Mike died. Losing a sibling is much harder than losing a parent. You expect to bury your parents but you don't expect to bury a sibling at 36. My dad owned his own business until I was about 13. We were what most people would have considered "well to do" back then. I was teased mercifully about that growing up. My mom drove a white Mercedes Coupe back in the 1980's so it was hard to fight that back then. I can remember at Christmas asking my dad for money for presents. It was nothing for him to pull out $300 and give to me. But, I didn't understand what that meant. Money had no value to me at 12. I think everybody thought I was this spoiled brat, that got everything she wished for. Looking back, I don't think I was spoiled. I have always been overweight and I had a cousin tell me that if she had parents like mine that could afford all these clothes for her, she would lose weight. She just couldn't understand why I wouldn't do whatever in my power to lose the weight and get good clothes. The reason....the clothes and the money didn't matter to me. The fact that my family loved me was enough.

I am back!

I am back again! DeWayne and I have had a lot of things going on the last few months. I went back to work full time, his sister was tested to see if she was a match for him for a kidney transplant. She was a blood match. About a month ago, we went to Vanderbilt with her to support her while she was getting the rest of her testing done. She found out about three weeks ago that she is a diabetic, which keeps her from being a donor for him. So, needless to say we have had a lot going on the last few months. But, hopefully I am back now...woo hoo! See you all tomorrow.

Dream

Dream....what do you dream of? Do you dream of a better career? Do you dream of a better life? There are a lot of things that I would like to accomplish in my life. But, the one thing that I have always dreamed and aspired to be is a writer. I have decided at the ripe old age of 42 to give it a try. I may never get published but I am going for the gusto to see my dream through.

Count Your Blessings

Do you remember to count your blessings? I try so hard to remember to count mine on a daily basis. Even with DeWayne on dialysis, I try so hard to remind myself that things could be so much worse. This June, DeWayne will have been back on dialysis for four years. He's only had one hospital admission during that time. Last June when he was in the hospital with the peritonitis, Dr. Boorgu told him that most patients have a bout with this particular infection within the first 18 months. DeWayne had made it 36 months before getting it...so I count that as a huge blessing. I remember when DeWayne had to go to UAB for his regular doctors visit, we would always be reminded how blessed we were. There were always tons of patients much worse off than DeWayne ever has been. We should always remember....there is ALWAYS someone much worse off than ourselves.

Be Kind

Be Kind.....I've always thought it was easier to not be kind. You have to make a conscious effort to say something nice to other people. That kind and uplifting comment that you could make to your spouse, sibling, parent, coworker or just the person you pass on the street...we never know how much that means to the other person. We have no idea what kind of an impact we can make on others lives. In that effort to reach out to another person and to share just that human connection...that's what it's all about to me.

Accept Differences

Accepting Differences....to accept our choice to be different from others. I think a lot of people find me to be anti-social. That's not always the case. I tend to find with the life experiences that I have had over the years, they  have impacted me more than I even realize. I don't have the tolerance with the petty and drama that people seem to surround themselves with. I lost my dad to lung cancer when I was 28 years old. I lost my oldest brother to complications of kidney failure when I was 35 years old. When you've been through a personal tragedy such as death, it changes you more than you realize. For those who've never experienced the loss of a loved one, you are the lucky few.