When You're Complaining About the Long Lines at the Mall...

be glad you aren't in this line.

The Sunday Breakfast Mission, Wilmington, DE, News Journal photo

I know I don't need to remind you awesome people, but please don't forget about your local food banks and breakfast missions or soup kitchens. They're desperate this year due to the extraordinary number of people in need.

What you can't see from this photo is that more of these people are employed than ever before. And the line includes more women and children than ever before. Where the clientele at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, a soup kitchen and shelter in Wilmington, Delaware used to be mostly homeless men, women and children are now making up approximately one-third of the clientele. The Breakfast Mission is currently unable to accommodate women in its shelter so it is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to build a shelter for women so they do not have to cross state lines for shelter.

The Food Bank of Delaware is struggling with need up 25% from previous years. I imagine the hundreds of places across the country, in your neighborhood, are no different. And look how happy you will be if you volunteer at the Food Bank.


There are also the animal shelters to think about. They, too, are experiencing food shortages from donations being down due to the economic crisis.

Not telling you anything you don't already know. These types of charities count on donations during the holidays when people are feeling especially charitable and hope they receive an overage of supplies to get them through what is sure to be a tough winter.