Malnutrition

I chose this topic only because I get heated everytime I hear of a child not having enough food and then listen to those telling the story complain because their blu ray player stopped working. Children around the world we know are starving and I hate to admit it but as much as we would like the hunger issue will never end. The issue that does concern me is the children who live right here in my own city whose parents are more willing to spend money on drugs or alcohol than feeding their children. The children need food to survive, thats a given, and I would love for everyone to have a healthy diet, fruits vegetables etc... but that is not realistic. I struggle to buy the "healthy" stuff for me and my boyfriend, so if you are on welfare or just cant afford it I know how that feels. The bottom line is that even if yoiu can not afford apple and oranges buy the children ramen noodles, they are no more than $.20 at any given market. It may not be the greatest food but the child will not be hungry and they will stand a better chance of surviving. I could go on for days about people who wont feed their children, I do feel bad for those who cant, but those who wont drive me nuts. I know how it feels to be on welfare and not have the food that my friends had but I always knew that my mom would make sure that we had something to eat, no matter how hungry her or my dad were!
As far as around the world I have a friend from Cambodia and asked his parents about the conditions in their home town. They told me that the malnutrition in Cambodia is severe and they did everything they could to eat what was available. They also said that they had both lost siblings to malnutrition. They were some of the fortunate ones who were able to receive passage to America and made themselves a life here. They now are fighting to get other family to America so they may have the opportunities that they have been able to experience.
Knowing how many children in Richmond are hungry I have multiple food drives every year to raise food for the local food bank. I also have work in many centers where the parents are on social services money for the day care and they struggled to buy food, any time that was a factor I made sure to keep them anonomous and raise food for that family. I hate to see hungry children and will do anything in my power to stop what I can.