Humanity House began because of one little boy who came to Santas Toy Shop. After his visit with Santa, and while mom was picking out a book for him, he stood quietly looking at all the toys. Each child who comes into the toy shop gets to choose the toy they love the most out of over a thousand toys. Sometimes it can take a little while. I thought this was the case with the little boy. When I asked him if he saw anything that he wanted he just shook his head. He told me that he didnt see what he wanted.
Because we have so many toys, we store lots of them in a different room. I asked him what he wanted, thinking that we probably had it in the back room. He looked at me and said, All I want for Christmas is food in my house. It took me a long moment to compose myself.
But I made a promise to myself that I would do something about it. Later I had a conversation with a woman who helped with a Christmas drive where children list what they want for Christmas. She told me that there were seven children who had listed food in their house as something that they wanted.
This is real. These are the children that you see lining up for school. The children that you see at Christmas programs or with their parent coming out of the library or the store. The kids that you see riding their bike or sitting on a swing. This is the world that they live in. A world where they dont know what is for supper or if there is even going to be one.
For whatever reason, these children have very little or no food in their homes. Imagine your own child in that circumstance. When children eat breakfast and lunch at school and that is the only meal that they get for a day, think of what happens to that child when school is out from Friday afternoon until Monday. Then think about what happens to that child when there is an extended break from school. Hunger is real. Hunger hurts. Hunger is harmful.
For the past two years, Humanity House has prepared 50 holiday food boxes for families. Each food box contains a ham or turkey, the appropriate fixings and things like milk, butter, and other items to help feed the family while school is out. Each box costs a little over $30 to fill. The cost of easing the minds of those little children who worry about food for their families is small indeed. It truly takes so little to give so much.
Worrying about food and being hungry should not be on any childs to-do list. If you have the means to help make this happen again this year, your generosity would be deeply appreciated. We are grateful for all the groups and organizations who also make this their mission. Allen County is an area where food insecurity is an everyday occurrence for many. If we work together, we can make this a year one where hunger isnt an issue for the children who live here. Kindness matters!
