I was hungry, and you gave me food. Matthew 25:35

This is a large excerpt from an opinion piece from the Detroit Free Press about a story on a recent government report on hunger and children in America.

Apparently the news story got lost somewhere between coverage of “Dancing with the Stars” and the latest celebrity story about Jessica Simpson’s most recent night on the town.

The news story in question was about a new Department of Agriculture report that puts the number of American children who went without enough to eat during 2007 at close to 700,000. This number represents a jaw-dropping 50 percent increase from the previous year.

When I first spotted the story yesterday on the Huffington Post, I was stunned. So I decided to conduct a Google News search under “child hunger Department of Agriculture’’ and research what various news outlets across the country had to say about this national disgrace. Problem was, I couldn’t find much more to research. Apart from the Huffington Post story, all my search turned up were links to two newspaper stories, a story on the CNN News website, a story on a public television station website, an Associated Press story and a story from a paper in the United Kingdom. The rest of the results were a bunch of press releases on the websites of child advocacy groups.

That’s it? Close to three quarter of a million children in the richest nation in the history of humanity didn’t have enough to eat at some point last year and that’s all the news coverage I could find on this travesty?

Since you’re not going to find the report plastered all over the internet as it should be, here’s the link: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err66/

It turns out that the media was covering far more important matters, as I discovered when I conducted a couple more Google News searches:

TOPIC SEARCHED / NUMBER OF SEARCH RESULTS

“Obama puppy” / 5,944

“Miley Cyrus to perform on Dancing with the Stars” / 147

“Britney Spears' new documentary” / 426

“American Idol” / 17,473

“Heather Locklear arrest” / 284

“Angelina Jolie breastfeeding” / 97

Anyway, I too had seen the hunger report in a few places, but then it disappeared from view immediately. I have been upset by some things lately, and I have been wondering how to respond to them. So this morning I remembered the hunger story, and this is what I came up with.

Every time between now and Christmas that I find myself getting upset over these things, I will put aside a nonperishable food item and donate it (or the equivalent in cash) to a local food pantry. I already know the pantries are hard hit this year, and I am sure every little bit helps folks in my community who need it. Goodness knows I am not among those going hungry.

I am also considering including a short note with the donation telling them why I am giving it. No strings attached, just a note to say that this is my way of dealing with something that challenges me to get angry. Rather than hurtful speech or actions, I will try to turn that energy to helping.