[img_assist|nid=115|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=537] Building awareness helps everyone. It helps those who are in trouble now, and it helps those who will need to use food shelves in the future. The face of America is changing- the gap between the wealthy and the poor is widening. And the only way to help this is to go back to the idea of community, of people helping other people which is a long-standing Minnesota tradition.

A large part of the work of building awareness is to let others know that people are being defeated by hunger through no fault of their own. Many people are living paycheck to paycheck. One devastating event in their lives puts them at risk for not having enough to live on. Consider:

• being laid off of work when a corporation sends its manufacturing to a third world country
• changing health insurances or going on Medicare and not having enough money to cover prescriptions
• going into a rehab facility and having it take a life’s savings
• having a spouse walk out and leaving you with 4 kids
• losing child care subsidy
• having the car break down beyond repair and not being able to get to work
• getting kicked out of an apartment because the building is being converted to condominiums