World Food Day on October 16th encourages us to reach out to those for whom the most basic right - food - is a daily challenge. The faces of the hungry are not just in Africa, but they are our neighbors as well, right here in America.

At MWV in Sidney, we are looking at our own community's hungry and stepping in to help. In our rural area, there are people with empty cupboards, whose children don't get to make favorite cereal choices in the grocery store. For them, a grocery store visit with money to spend is in itself, a luxury.

For World Food Day, we focused on a particular need just a few miles down the road. An arsonist's fire burned down the Sidney Center Methodist Church and with it, the food pantry that served the needy in our community. While most people immediately thought about the loss of the historic building, organ and stained glass windows, many did not know about the lifeline to the community that was broken. The food bank located in the church made the difference between eating and not eating for the hamlet's very poor. Our employees wanted to help.

And so blue barrels appeared in our cafeteria with signs listing the needs: pasta, peanut butter, jelly, applesauce, spaghetti sauce. Over the next two weeks, we are diligently restocking the basic essentials that formed the core of the food pantry.

In addition to the local food collection efforts by our employees, to raise awareness at a broader level we'll be supporting World Food Day through the online community as well. On Oct 16th, a portion of the proceeds from all orders received on our websites (www.ataglance.com, www.dayrunner.com and www.mead.com/shop) will be donated to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW) to help feed even more hungry people. And the more people we can feed, the better since this is a growing concern given our current economic situation. 

So what can I do you ask? There are many simple things you can do to make a difference. Give up the $5 you were going to spend on your morning latte and donate it to one of the many food charities. Volunteer at a local food bank or pantry. Buy a bag of groceries and donate to a local food drive. The bottom line is just do something!