Breaking bread, lending a hand | Bread & Butter

The holiday season is officially upon us. Sweaters are adorned, bountiful feasts are prepared and there is mad shopping to be had. But as we all bellied up to the dinner table for Thanksgiving on Thursday, businesses all over the country continued to fight to avoid doing the same.

And while we stuffed ourselves like the turkey we savored just days ago, we’re all still tightening our proverbial financial belts. Stores are desperately vying for your slim surplus holiday dollars with their Black Friday sales, but they’re not the only ones in need this season.

As the unemployment rate has grown steadily and the economy continues to shift the income bracket of the average American household – from middle class to lower and from lower class to destitute – charitable hunger-fighting organizations (among others) are struggling to meet a heightened seasonal demand.

Freestore Foodbank officials, who spoke with WCPO, said in addition to seeing an increase in families seeking help this year, they’ve also seen a change in who is. The food bank asserts that it has seen an increase in middle class families seeking assistance with parents who are out of work or struggling to make ends meet with part-time jobs.

And according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, even the most successful organizations expect to see donations decline by an average of 9 percent for 2009.

So that means while most of us are fortunate enough to be able to afford and enjoy the comfort of our lovely and delicious holiday meals, many others (out of work or down on their luck) cannot and non-profit organizations are having trouble picking up the slack.

So while we may not have the cash laying around to donate to charity or non-profit groups in light of the harsh economic environment, what we can spare, is a little of our time.

Before this food columnist sat down to her own delicious meal on Thanksgiving, I spent my morning dishing some out at Haddon Hall, an apartment community for the elderly and disabled in Avondale.

The event was organized by Crossroads Community Church located on Madison Road in Cincinnati. While not a churchgoer myself, my parents have always said, “You don’t have to be religious to do good,” and this experience was no exception.

While the group held a restaurant-style Thanksgiving lunch in the building’s recreation room, my fellow volunteers and I delivered plates of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, topped with gravy, to the rooms of those too immobile to leave their apartments. We provided not only sustenance, but company to those who could not be with their families for the holiday.

And as any foodie will tell you, a stomach is second to only the lungs as the organ closest to any food lover’s heart; you certainly cannot fill one without filling the other. Food and the sharing of it has always proven itself to be one of the great levelers. Which is evidenced by the origin of Thanksgiving: in the breaking of bread between our ancestors arriving in the new world and the original natives of America.
But while Thanksgiving has come and gone, the season of giving and charity is here. And there are many wonderful Cincinnati area hunger-combating organizations that could use a helping hand this season from the Freestore Foodbank to Our Daily Bread, and many other Cincinnati soup kitchens.

Which means there is still plenty of time and opportunity to find the true spirit of the holiday season in our food-loving selves in the form of volunteerism and helping to feed the hungry.