Hunger looks grim. It has a posture of defeat and eyes of hopelessness. I know this because this is what I saw at the Lazarus House food pantry while volunteering yesterday.

The pantry doors opened at 9 a.m., but guests started to line up almost two hours earlier. Bundled in blankets, jackets and gloves against the cold morning air, they arrived early to guarantee a bag of food for their families. I can't tell you how many people in this area struggle with hunger, but I do know that for more than three hours that line of people never stopped moving

There was one young mother that warmed my heart. She approached my area uncomfortably, looking ashamed. With downcast eyes, she quickly grabbed her soup without bothering to see the different choices. While juggling both her grocery bags and a toddler, she stumbled. She stopped for a moment to regain her balance and glanced over in my direction. As I helped her, I was also able to suggest an alternative soup, chicken with noodles in the shape of "Elmo" for her son. His eyes lit up when he saw the Sesame Street character's face on the cover. She nodded her head in acceptance and the two of them smiled broadly at each other. I felt grateful for that moment while I watched her son hugging the can tightly as they left the food pantry.

I have to say that the people I saw at the food pantry don't bear any resemblance to the comments I have heard regarding people living in poverty. It's unrealistic to believe that anyone I met had quit their jobs so they could "live off the government, get free food, housing and health insurance". In reality, I was told that many of them are aggressively looking for work. Surprisingly, the largest majority of the people receiving food were elderly or disabled. There were also some mothers with small children that were trying to find the balance between a low salary and high daycare costs. From my vantage point, the people at the food pantry were not standing in line for hours to take advantage of anyone. They were just hungry.

At Lazarus House the food pantry distribution is open to everyone. No documentation or ID is required to receive food assistance. To reduce panic, nothing will go on the shelves for distribution until there is enough for all the families, from the first in line to the last, to receive exactly the same food items. Distribution has reached unheard of numbers, exceeding more than 1,000 families this past month. Unfortunately, supplies are dwindling and there is rarely enough food to stock the shelves until the night before the next distribution.

Knowing all this, I give fair-warning to all my neighbors and friends of the plan I have to organize a food drive in the near future. After all I've seen today, how could I not?