Fourth Quarter - Hunger Ministry
In Montgomery County, one of the most affluent counties in the country, hunger is around every corner. Many of the people that need food assistance in our community are families, senior citizens on a fixed budget, people who have mental or physical disabilities, people going through a temporary crisis, and the working poor. The weakened economy, increased unemployment rate, and high costs of living in Montgomery County have made it difficult for many to afford their basic needs. There are many people in our community who must make choices everyday between having enough to eat and buying the medicine they need. Others find they must choose between paying utility bills or grocery bills.
One in three students attending Montgomery County Public Schools qualifies for a free or reduced price lunch (32.3%). This is a true indication of the poverty that exists in our community. Each month, there are thousands of people in Montgomery County relying on emergency food programs to put food on the table for their families. For struggling families, hunger is a harsh reality they face every day.
What Can You Do?
There are so many ways that you can help those in our neighborhood who are hungry. Donate food at the grocery store, make a monetary donation, pray for those who go to bed hungry and join your Outreach Committee and your parish family as we "build a Church!" , Please join us in the Undercroft with your donation of cans of food or boxes of cereal and prepared foods as we "build a church", not with bricks and mortar, but, can- by-can and box-by-box.
And what happens after we "build our church" in the undercroft. We celebrate with fellowship! The following week we will dismantle our church and take it to Manna where the "pillars of our church" can be shared with the hungry in Montgomery County.
Watch for more details regarding what to bring, time and date.
Education Moment - Something to think about...
The Self-Sufficiency Standard measures the amount of income that is needed for a family to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance. The Standard takes into consideration the cost of housing, child care, food, health care, transportation, taxes and miscellaneous expenses. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Montgomery County, researched and published by the Montgomery County Community Action Agency in 2012, indicates the amount needed to make ends meet for one adult, one preschooler, and one school-age child is $36.90 per hour ($77,933 annually) in Montgomery County, or 421% of the Federal Poverty Level. A single adult would need to make $17.07 an hour to meet basic needs. The minimum wage for Maryland is $7.25 an hour!
10% of Maryland residents live in poverty as defined by the National Poverty level, while 12% are food insecure. Between November 2007 and November 2010, the number of Maryland residents receiving food stamps increased by over 300% (from 159,348 to 643,651 individuals). 244,000 children in Maryland receive Food Stamps. Maryland's unemployment rate more than doubled from its pre-recession level of 3.5% in December 2007 to 7.4% in November 2010. Over 147,000 residents rely on WIC services.
Nationally...Food insecurity exists in 14.5 percent of all U.S. households. Economists expect U.S. poverty to reach 15.7 percent of the population this year, the highest level since the mid-1960s.
Nationally, in 2012, 46.7 million people in an average month relied on the SNAP/Food Stamp Program to help put food on the table. More than 16 million, or almost one in five, American children are at risk of hunger. During the 2009-2010 school year, 20 million children received free or reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program. In fiscal year 2012, nearly 8.9 million women, infants and children relied on the WIC program every month.
WHAT'S COMING UP: Reinvisioning Outreach
If you have some ideas that you would like to share with us that would involved reaching outside our church doors to those in need, please send to Liz Quinn in advance at [email protected] or call her at 301.775.2545. And of course, if you have any questions, please let Liz know.
All parish members interested in expanding our Outreach activities are encouraged to pray and to participate.
Walking the Way!
Liz Quinn
Outreach Coordinator