Now Here's How You Do Petty Law Enforcemenbt

Not really aimed at the car-less poor people who bear the brunt of petty law enforcement, but it shows that some people in Lexington city government understand the concept of public service.

Justin Madden at the Herald:

LexPark said the campaign collected more than 6,200 cans of food at its North Broadway location as payment for more than 600 meter citations.

The food for fines program ran from Nov. 17 through Dec. 19. It allowed customers to bring in 10 cans of food to pay for any meter citation. Customers who had multiple meter citations were able to bring in 10 cans for each one, including those that were past due.

SNIP
"While the national attention was exciting, we were very grateful that the local media got behind the story and really helped us get the word out," Means said. "Over 370 citizens participated by hauling in their cans, many of which donated more that was required."

All canned food donations received by LexPark were given to God's Pantry Food Bank.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/24/3610132_lexingtons-food-for-fines-program.html?sp=/99/164/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

How Dare These Starving Old People Expect Food When Billionaires Need Tax Cuts?

There is no shaming some motherfuckers.

Trudy Lieberman at The Nation:

Home-delivered meal programs are emblematic of others born during the Great Society, victims of a relentless campaign in recent decades to malign government aid, cut spending and allow all responsibility for even the most basic needs to fall to the private sector. Meal program directors continue to plead their case to members of Congress, taking them on deliveries and demonstrating that meals are cost-effective and necessary for good health, but funding never really increases. In some ways the programs are victims of their own success: they’re so good at what they do that few pay attention to the growing need for their services. Kathy Pontin says the politicians in her service area, Representative Rosa DeLauro and Senator Richard Blumenthal, are supportive, but they tell her there’s not much they can do in a deadlocked Congress.

The idea of giving a little bit more of the nation’s vast wealth to the elderly, especially those in dire need, has suffered in the drive by conservative think tanks to demonize old people—the “greedy geezer” meme. Last winter on the CBS Evening News, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who earned $26 million last year, said, “You’re going to have to undoubtedly do something to lower people’s expectations—the entitlements and what people think they’re going to get. Because they’re not going to get it.” He was talking about Social Security and Medicare, but home-delivered meals are entitlements too; smaller Social Security checks and paying more for medical care means less money for food.

Meanwhile, when Michelle McDonald of the Central Maryland meals program checked back with the Eisenharts in July, she learned that the couple still could not pay privately for the one meal a day that was feeding both of them. “It’s pretty rough around here,” Arlan Eisenhart told her. McDonald asked what they were eating. “We’re not eating much of anything at all,” Arlan replied. “It’s pretty hard for me to stand up and make anything. I try the best I can. Sometimes the best isn’t good enough.”

Read the whole amazing tribute to American Exceptionalism.

Just How Democrats Roll

Zandar:

Republicans, complain all you want to about the President moving his acceptance speech Friday indoors due to storms, what the Democrats did afterwards for Charlotte is outstanding.

All the fancy catered food intended for the VIP suites and club rooms at the stadium – and perhaps even for the president himself – was redistributed Friday to local soup kitchens and shelters, via Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

On the menu: thousands of pounds of pecan-fried chicken, baked orzo, fresh crudités, three-bean bake, fresh-cut fruit and something called short rib cobbler.

SNIP 

“It’s really a wonderful order,” said Kay Carter of Second Harvest, which got 7,500 pounds of the food.

“None of this food will go to waste. We contacted every shelter and soup kitchen in town and asked them how much refrigeration capacity they have and how many are they feeding. It will all be gone at the end of the day.”

Second Harvest has a history of redistributing fresh food at a moment’s notice, she said, including leftovers from major golf tournaments.

 This is outstanding, and more people need to know about it.   Spread the word.

If you have a garden, and now have tomatoes and zucchini coming out your ears, pack up your extra and take it to your local soup kitchen, food bank or Second Harvest. Find them here. 

And take along some voter registration forms.

"Farms to Food Banks" Funded

Now here's some good news about a public-private initiative that gets food directly to hungry people. Let this set the tone for your week.

From the press release:

The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Gov. Steve Beshear, approved the Kentucky Association of Food Banks for $47,500 in Agricultural Development Funds from multiple counties for their “Farms to Food Banks” initiative.  The following counties contributed funds:  Allen ($5,000); Casey ($2,500); Jessamine ($10,000); Garrard ($10,000); and Shelby ($20,000).

“I am committed to creating opportunities that will make Kentucky’s agricultural community stronger,” said Gov. Beshear.  “Projects such as this one funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, not only provide an additional market for farm products, but also provide an important service to Kentuckians in need.”

The Farms to Food Banks initiative provides fresh, healthy produce to Kentuckians in need, while providing additional markets for farmers. The association purchases Kentucky-grown surplus and No. 2 produce that is edible but not sellable on the retail market. The produce is distributed at no cost to low-income Kentuckians throughout the food banks network.

This project was one of the 26 proposals approved at the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board’s July business meeting.

The Kentucky Association of Food Banks is comprised of seven food banks that reach all 120 counties and serve an estimated 1 in 7 Kentuckians annually.  For more information about Farms to Food Banks, contact Tamara Sandburg at 859-358-6719 or tamara@kafb.org.

Points to Missouri

Kentucky prisons do have agricultural and horticultural programs for inmates, but nothing this sophisticated.

Bon The Geek at Zandar's place:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri prisoners have raised more than 50 tons of vegetables and fruit that have been given to food pantries around the state.

The Department of Corrections says this year's harvest was significantly higher than last year's, when the agency donated 29 tons of produce through its Restorative Justice Garden Program.

Under the program, all the seeds and plants are donated to the Corrections Department, which then donates all the resulting food to local pantries.

Everyone wins. Hungry people get a boost, and prisoners get a chance to contribute and do a good thing. This is the type of solution we should be looking for, where we take a resource not being used and give it a purpose that helps everyone involved.

Good job, guys.

If you've ever grown a garden, you know there are few things in this life as rewarding as harvesting your own produce. One of those few things is donating your surplus to your local soup kitchen or food bank.

Hard to imagine a program more likely to encourage personal, social and civic responsibility among inmates.

Bring Back the Sit-In

Two million people nationwide. Even a fraction of those should make an impression.

Susie Madrak at Crooks and Liars:

Here's what I suggest for anyone who's losing their unemployment payments this week: Grab a blanket and a pillow, and head on over to your local congressperson's office -- or, if you live in a big city, go to your senator's office. Tell them you can't afford to turn on the heat, and you're going to camp out in their waiting room until the congressman or senator has time to talk to you. And since you don't have money for food, either, I suggest you loudly solicit the staff and incoming visitors for cash.

Because I am so goddamned sick of these bastards and the protected little bubbles in which they live. It's time we did what we could to remind them of the consequences of everything they've done -- or failed to do:

WASHINGTON -- Food banks across the country are watching for the end of federally-funded extended unemployment insurance.

"We are bracing for it," said Vicki Escarra, CEO of Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, in an interview with HuffPost. Escarra said that Feeding America's 200 member food banks across the country feed nearly six million people every week.

"I can assure you, if these unemployment insurance benefits are not reinstated we'll see these numbers go way up," Escarra said.

Two federal programs -- Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits, which together provide up to 73 weeks of jobless aid on top of 26 weeks of state aid -- are set to begin to expire this week because Congress has not reauthorized them. According to the Labor Department, two million long-term unemployed will be dropped from the programs by the end of December if Congress does not act.

Congress allowed benefits to lapse twice for a brief time earlier this year, and once for a long time, when 2.5 million had their benefits interrupted for nearly two months over the summer. The path forward for reauthorizing the benefits is unclear, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday that he wants the benefits preserved as part of a deal to reauthorize the also-expiring Bush-era tax cuts.

The Congressional Budget Office recently reported that extended unemployment benefits prevented record poverty in 2009 and were used mostly by middle-class Americans. Households with total income more than twice the poverty threshold received 70 percent of the $120 billion the federal government spent on unemployment benefits last year. Part of the reason is that the benefits themselves push families into higher-income groups.

A study released by Feeding America this year found that of the 37 million people served by its member food banks, 70 percent came from households with incomes below the poverty line. The study found that 5.7 million people received emergency food assistance in 2009, a 27 percent increase from 2006.

I'd just add: get some publicity. If you can't persuade your local paper or TV station to cover your sit-in, try a local blogger. If not that, then get a friend to videotape you or at least take pictures so you can publicize yourself online.

And if you still have a job, write the biggest check you can to your local food bank.

Smart Politics and the Right Thing to Do

Gotta second Jake on this one: The Kentucky Democratic Party did this one right.

The Kentucky Democratic Party got something right in an email blast yesterday!

Daniel Logsdon sent out a list of food banks around the state. Deserves props for that.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list that’s worth sharing:

Jake's list has hot links, and you can find another list of food banks in Kentucky here, where you can also find food banks in your state.

This is a good place to promote my favorite gift idea for the holidays: charitable contributions in the names of gift recipients. National and international charities give you "in the name of" options on their donation web pages, and local charities will be more than happy to send out a thank-you note to the person you designate.

Boxing Day is for Giving

Not more superflous presents to friends and family, but gifts that will make all the difference to those in need.

The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.

The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to charitable institutions, the needy and people in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early christian era.

In the United Kingdom it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their 'Christmas boxes' or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas. [1].

The establishment of Boxing Day as a defined public Holiday under the legislation that created the UK's Bank Holidays started the separation of 'Boxing Day' from the 'Feast of St Stephen' and today it is almost entirely a secular holiday with a tradition of shopping and post Christmas sales starting.

Want to wash the conspicuous consumption off your holiday? Take a few of the minutes and a few of the dollars you were going to spend shopping today, and put them to work helping others.

Need an idea? Every community in the nation has a food bank, and every food bank in every community is struggling to feed dozens, even hundreds more families who never needed food help before. Check the phone book, or google "Food Bank" and the name of your community.