According to a recent CNN report, 32 percent of Americans polled have cut back on food and medicine.
When money is tight, we naturally buy fewer luxury items. After all, how many of us really need that new boat or 52-inch flat screen TV?
But seeing so many of my fellow Americans cutting back on essentials like food and medicine is heartbreaking.
Each week, we receive stories of families doing without vital prescription medications in order to be able to feed their families. They simply cannot afford both food and medicine.
Ginger was laid off in January 2008. Her husband was laid off six months later. They were devastated by the loss of a son in an accident that same year. Because they didn’t have insurance, their savings were wiped out by this tragic event.
In addition to coping with their grief, Ginger and her family have been struggling ever since to make ends meet. They have given up all doctors’ visits and prescription medications. Without insurance, they simply cannot afford health care.
Feed The Children is committed to standing by families in crisis, like Ginger’s. By providing food free of charge to those in need, we hope that the choice between essential food and life-saving medicine is one that few Americans ever have to make.
