Letters: Extra hands needed to help feed local children; Who’s to blame for GOP’s midterm performance?

Extra hands needed to help feed local children

Parents did not bring children into this world uncertain that they would be able to feed them the nutritious food they need. While there is a lot of commotion surrounding the recent local and statewide midterm elections, community advocacy should not stop there.

Although food insecurity was not a primary issue in this election, the harsh reality is people will have to choose between heating their homes or putting food on the table this winter. More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians suffered from food insecurity in 2021, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

While government-instituted programs focus primarily on financial aid for food-insecure individuals, these programs fail to provide proper assistance. Meanwhile, the YMCA Anti-hunger program empowers community members to directly impact their communities, neighborhoods and schools.

The Backpack Program specifically has been very successful in getting food to children for the weekend. Many of these children face food insecurity, and this program helps them get through the weekend until they get back to school to receive free/reduced meals. This program has helped children come back to school on Monday ready to learn.

From March 15, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2022, we put 6,996,639 pounds of food back into the communities through our food distributions. This equals 97,478 families and 197,461 individuals.

Now that we’ve voted, let’s not wait around for legislators and lawmakers to help those who are hungry. This winter, I am asking for extra hands from our community to volunteer in the packing and distribution of life-saving food.

Who’s to blame for GOP’s midterm performance?

Pundits explain Republican candidates’ poor midterm election performance by referring to the party’s unpopular stance on abortion, active support for Donald Trump’s bogus claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection against the U.S. government.

But they seem to forget that Republicans have also called for cuts to Social Security and Medicare while rejecting President Biden’s plan to provide debt relief to 26 million low-income citizens with college student loans.

Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers who voted against Biden’s popular, bipartisan infrastructure bill last year took credit for local infrastructure projects approved in their own districts! With that reality in mind, few people would be surprised to learn that the GOP has a 61% unpopularity rating with the public in August 2022, according to a Pew Research poll.

Some voters still believe the myth that the GOP is better at dealing with inflation, despite the fact that Democrats do better at managing the economy by virtually every objective measure — and pundits appear to have overlooked the Republican party’s support for unpopular positions on government programs and social issues.

Personally, I am astounded that any rational middle-class voter could vote for a GOP candidate who supports the party’s current positions. Republicans have only themselves to blame for the party’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections.

Perhaps it can all be summarized with the simple statement that “if politicians don’t listen to what the public wants, they should not be surprised to lose at election time.”

Come together for an art sale benefit

The elections last week have proven that we can all work together as a community and as a nation to help one another through devastating crises. On Nov. 30 we will have an Art Sale Benefit for Immigrants’ Resettlement from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St. Artists from State College, Philadelphia, New York and across Pennsylvania have donated beautiful and inspiring paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings and prints to support the efforts of Dr. Shoba Wadhia and Penn State Law Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and Thrive International Programs.

This Art Sale Benefit will offer unique holiday gifts for your friends and family at a time when we need to show how much we love and appreciate one another.