Dec. 2, 2009

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A century-old Christian charity announced plans to mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers to respond to reports of a lack of food for hungry Americans this fall and winter.

Over just the last 24 hours, reports have come in from Boston, Iowa City, Tarrant County, Texas, and Elon, N.C., of swelling demand on food banks and other service organizations. Officials with the Knights of Columbus are responding by activating their network on volunteers and putting up hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The shortage has developed as the worldwide economic meltdown has taken jobs away from fathers and mothers, creating a ripple effect on food supplies for members of those households

The Knights of Columbus "Food for Families" program will mobilize about 9,300 of its local councils nationwide and another 2,100 in Canada to work with local faith organization.

A donation of $1 million also is being set aside for the work.

"We're in a unique situation in that we have thousands of councils in the U.S. and Canada to take up food drives for food pantries that are running low," spokesman Andrew Walther told WND today.

"We have the boots on the ground to make this happen on a national, international basis."

According to report in the Pendulum at Elon College in North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the number of Americans in households where there isn't consistent access to adequate food rose to 49 million last year.

The report referred to the local work of a Christian nonprofit called Loaves and Fishes as well as the Salvation Army.

But those resources always were limited, and with more families needing help and fewer families donating, the shortage has become acute.

"We can't help anyone on a daily basis," said Salvation Army caseworker Robin Drummond. "We have just enough (food) to get them through an emergency crisis situation."

The Boston Globe reported a 30-percent increase in people seeking help from food-bank pantries. A record number of families were in line for help in Iowa City, and other locales were reporting the same.

"Hunger is now a growing epidemic in America," the Elon College report said.

"We have seen a large increase in numbers of people coming into Loaves and Fishes since the recession," said director Brenda Ingle Allen. "Our numbers per month have doubled from June through now.

"The trend is more people unemployed seeking assistance, also more people being put on short time," she said. "Those who normally worked a full-time job are now working part-time."

Drummond said help can only be offered as people are willing to donate to the programs.

The Knights program, according to organizers, will be used to target the nearly 50 million Americans who experienced "food insecurity" last year.

"At a time when record numbers are at risk of hunger, and with fewer able to give financially to charity, the Knights of Columbus hopes this program will help both to alleviate the problem, and to encourage other religious and charitable organizations – as well as businesses and corporations – to conduct similar programs," said Carl Anderson, the chief of the organization.

"People may not be able to give a lot of money to charity this Christmas, but many can give a can of soup to help their neighbors, and the Knights of Columbus are committed to providing them the opportunity to do so," he said.

Walther told WND the program will be run on a local level, with councils in communities across the continent gearing up to collect food and make the donations available to food pantries and other programs.

The Knights, founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Conn., to help Catholic immigrants, now is one of the nation's most active charitable groups, providing nearly 69 million hours of charitable service and more than $150 million to causes last year.

There are more than 1.75 million members worldwide.

Walther said the goal is that "nobody in a place where there's a council should have to go hungry."

"It's horrible to be hungry," he said.

"What we're hearing and what's been reported nationally is that food banks and soup kitchens are dangerously low on food," he said.

"Food for Families" is one part of the Knights "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" program, which began at a February summit on volunteerism in response to the economic crisis.

Other groups that participated in the strategy session included the Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, United Way, Catholic Charities, Points of Light, the National Fraternal Congress.

Another part of the program will be a "coats for kids" outreach across the continent, officials said.

WND previously reported a commodities expert launched a warning that the next major crop failure around the world could be a bigger shock than $150 oil and result in "mass starvation."

The forecast came from Chicago-based Don Coxe, a leading agricultural industry expert, in a report in the Commodity Online publication.

"When we have the first serious crop failure, which will happen, we will then have a full-blown food crisis, which we will not be able to get out of because we will still be struggling to catch up (as a result of diminished crop yields)," he told the publication.

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