vacation, privilege, and hunger

been on vacation for the last week...

went down to one of our homeless shelters today to prepare and serve the evening meal for the residents. i do this in conjunction with Mother's Kitchen. i have been doing it for about six years. we serve homeless families.

seeing the kids today broke my heart. i came home, told my wife about them and cried. they are all so beautiful and deserving of all things good and wonderful. they live in the richest country in the god damn world and they are hungry. IMO, this is a crime. world hunger is a crime, but here, in the "good ole US of A" it is definitely a crime. fucking unforgiveable, actually. abhorrent, reprehensible. insane.

i have plenty to eat, a place to live, good, supportive people around me -- this is the god damn American dream. this is what should exist in the richest fucking country in the entire god damn world. NOT beautiful hungry, children, dejected parents, and tangible hopelessness. this is WRONG. it is especially wrong because we CAN do something about it. as someone far brighter than me said once, "we need a Manhatten project" to solve hunger and poverty in this country. no one can convince me that if enough people in this country got together and worked toward ending these things, they would still be here.