help locally

The buses air brakes squealed as it pulled into the stop to disgorge more riders equipped with shopping carts, back packs and reusable shopping bags, some had brought folding chairs.  The line of people  extended around the block and down the alley.

It was nine o'clock yesterday morning and the procession was moving forward at a snails pace.  The church bells were counting off the hour, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong and life was supposedly normal all around the crowds waiting on University Ave.

They had started lining up at 7:30am for the food.  Free food that was being distributed by the gay and lesbian community center .  These were not street people, these were ordinary everyday people from all walks of life lining up for food.  Young and old alike waited patiently for their turn to be served the bulk food they would take home.  i watched from the balcony of my mom's apartment.

It made my heart ache.  i'd just finished reading GregMortenson's book "Stones into Schools" and was half way through "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof.  Both books highlighted the plight of women in third world countries and the importance of helping them.

A heavy emphasis is put on educating children, especially young girls and women in third world countries.  Research has illuminated a parallel between improved living conditions and womens education, for women are the spreaders of good will.

But what about local needs, here we are faced with a need that is right in our face.  Hundreds and hundreds of men and women lined up waiting for food.  It made me wonder if we took the foreign aid we spend on guns and weapons and put it into this country if that vision would still be a reality. 

Why were so many lining up?  What was happening in their lives that they found it necessary to line up on a Tuesday morning to get free food?  And my final question, how many other communities all across the nation was this happening in regularly?

Spreading good will is important but we have major problems of our own that need to be addressed.  We want to go out and help those less fortunate in other countries but we don't want to focus too much attention on problems here at home.  The soup kitchens, the homeless, the people living at or below the poverty level, the hungry, the uneducated, the battered and raped, and the crime.  Those problems are there staring us in the face daily.

i've been walking on the beach in the mornings with a woman that has a fifteen year old son.  She was talking about sending him off to another country to help out and learn some valuable lessons.  My response was why wait, we have huge problems here that he could volunteer and learn from.

Living here in San Diego has been a wake up call for me.  Daily i see homeless pushing shopping carts, others dragging huge plastic bags full of cans and bottles to turn in for money, and now those waiting for food.  Life is not good for a lot of people in the small area i traverse and it breaks my heart every day.

A lot of us, myself included, are incredibly lucky to lead charmed lives.  Giving back takes so little time, please consider how you can help out locally for it will make a difference.

The banner in the first picture says
"Reflect on yourself, Connect with others, Affect the world"  I think that last section should say affect your town first, then the world.