Questions for service clubs and those who volunteer and raise funds for them

By Dennis Archambault

This morning, a member of a Rotary club proudly announced that his club supports a food pantry that fed 30,000 people in 2019. Of course, alleviating hunger is a good thing, and hopefully, the food provided through the food pantry was reasonably nutritious. I turned to the fellow next to me and asked, “Why did 30,000 people need a food pantry in 2019?”

This is a period of near full employment in the United States. Why do so many people need a food pantry – designed for emergency food distribution – as their permanent source of food? Why is the working poor constantly shifting which bills they can pay each month? Why are public schools installing washing machines for children whose parents can’t afford water service?

The growing income disparity, as documented in this BBC News report (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51578045), is a major reason. A major segment of the population is working at low income, unskilled, and often unrewarding jobs, much like they did a century ago. When they eat, they don’t or can’t make healthy choices; when they exercise, if they exercise, they often don’t have safe places to do it; their emotional well-being is compromised by cumulative stress; and when they consider their health, it’s often urgent, not preventive. Can these working households maintain their rent or mortgage payments, and if not, where do they go after work? How are their children eating, exercising, and studying?

The irony of the BBC article is that it keys on President Trump’s assertion that this is a great time in America because of near full employment and the prosperity of those who have secure affluent lifestyles. If  30,000 people are going to one food pantry over a year’s time, and thousands more at other food pantries and soup kitchens – during one of the most prosperous eras of American history, what will happen when the next recession hits? And surely it will.

Food security is an essential midstream action, well-intentioned service clubs like Rotary need to also ask the question, why is the need for our services becoming greater during a period of prosperity?

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Detroit A.M.