Caring and Sharing

Volunteers at Foodbank in Neath ready to give...

This is a guest blog post from Jamie Bowen:

On this tiny planet of ours over the next few weeks the population is expected to break the 7 billion people barrier, and by the end of the century it will be over 10 billion. This staggering rise in the population will only put increasing pressure on the food industry and our own world’s natural resources to help meet this need; there are already an estimated 925 million people in the world who are hungry.

In the UK alone it is estimated that 4 million children are living in poverty, meaning they are likely to have problems with their health, education and other opportunities in life. This frightening statistic is made worse when you realise that as a country we waste 7 million tonnes of waste each year, imagine if we were able to stop this from happening and instead of it becoming waste actually go to someone who is in desperate need. Well we can, we all have our part to play in protecting this world, no matter how small it might be.

As well as considering how much you buy in food each week, think about donating some of it. So that buy one get one free offer for a tin of beans which seems like a really great offer, even though you hardly eat beans, well donate that free tin to a Food Bank. What is a Food Bank I hear you ask? A Food Bank is a charitable organisation set up in local communities to help people in crisis; these people will have been identified as needing emergency food support by their doctor, social workers or health visitors. Through a voucher system these people can then go to a Food Bank to obtain 3 days worth of emergency food; food, which is non-perishable and must be in date, and supplied by willing
volunteers.

The situation described up above reminds me of Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand; let us remind ourselves from Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 14 Verses 13-17:

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said “this is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

For me these verses say a lot about where we are today, the disciples approach was selfishness, they had no interest or care of how this gathering would be fed, only how they would be fed. Jesus, on the other hand, was all about sharing and caring about his fellow human being.

At a time of great economical uncertainty there is a tendency to close in and protect ourselves, but now more than ever there is a need to ensure we care for ourselves, but more importantly for our fellow human being. Food Banks across the country are reporting a surge in demand for their help, some have seen a 50% increase.

So please consider what you’re buying and also think of those less fortunate than yourselves, and
donate to your local food bank.

If you would like to find and support your local Foodbank, you can find more information at the Foodbank website: http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects

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