HELPING THOSE IN NEED

Recent articles in various newspapers and magazines point out a very disturbing trend. Poverty in the United States is getting a lot worse. The recent economic troubles and recession have certainly contributed to this decline. One in seven Americans lives in poverty. One in five children do. Nearly 12 million households are now receiving food stamps, which is a record. A record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year as the recession wiped out their jobs, health insurance and savings. The number of poor people in the suburbs increased 37% in the last decade. Hundreds of thousands of pets are being abandoned or left with shelters. Foreclosures continue at a record pace. Its hard to believe that this is the United States in 2010.

Locally, families who to donated to food pantries a few years ago are now standing in line this year. Another soup kitchen just opened in Amesbury, bringing the total to seven in the area, to go along with five food pantries. Some of the stories are just heartbreaking. Last year, one mother stood in line for three hours at one of the food pantries. All she wanted was toilet paper for her family! And when she got to the end of the line, they were all out!

Many of us want to help. We are a kind, compassionate and generous nation. There are a few things each one of us can do to help our neighbors who are in need and it doesn't take much. Do you realize that if each one of us in Newburyport just put 2 Cents a day into a container, that's over $100,000 a year? If we all just donated 2 Cans a month to a food pantry, that's 36,000 cans of food a year. And if we donated just 2 Hours a month of our time to a food pantry, soup kitchen, a nursing home, a shelter, etc, thats 36,000 hours a year of volunteering . And if we all did this, then Together, we can make the Newburyport area a better place. And if everyone in all the towns in Massachusetts gave 2 cents a day, that's over $30 million a year. Wow, what a difference that would make. And all just by putting 2 pennies a day in a container!!!

I am a volunteer for Pennies for Poverty here in Newburyport. This is what we believe in. We have a Vision to eliminate poverty in this area by 2025. So lets all pitch in, put those 2 pennies a day in a container. And we can do this at home, in the schools, and in our businesses. Make a project out of it. Get your neighborhood involved. Well over 80 businesses in town have Pennies containers. All this money goes into the banks and then we give it back to those in need.

Each one of us can create a ripple of hope for someone just by putting 2 pennies a day in a container. And pretty soon all these ripples of hope in Newburyport and surrounding towns become this giant wave that knocks down the walls of poverty, and each one of us will have done something "to make gentle the life of this world."