Americans seem to be more fragmented and divided than ever – but there is one thing we can all agree on. There is enough food in the world for everyone to have what they need, and we should all unite together – whatever our personal beliefs and situations – to combat the very real problem of hunger. No organization in our part of the state engages in this fight more effectively and impressively than the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.
We live in an agriculturally rich state, but there are still more than 630,000 people in our own community who struggle with hunger. Some 210,000 children in the Food Bank’s 34 counties are living in food insecure households. We will not be able to solve this problem all at once. But we can certainly work for a solution, and there is no place better to start than in our own backyard.
Even though the primary mission of Food Bank CENC is to feed our friends and neighbors through its community partners, it now has developed a new and inspiring initiative through its recently formed Department of Community Health and Engagement, which is dedicated to helping members of our community move beyond the state of food insecurity to become self-sufficient and no longer in need of emergency services. We should all applaud and heartily endorse the forward-looking thinking behind this initiative.
Each of us can join the fight against hunger in our own way. In addition to supporting the Food Bank personally, I have dedicated my Bart Ehrman Blog to raising funds for hunger and homelessness. The blog itself is focused on my field of academic expertise, and members pay a fee to join and every penny that comes in goes out to charities dealing with hunger and homelessness. The Food Bank has been one of the major charities to which the blog donates since I began it five years ago.
I feel, though, that I can do more, and that we as a community can do more. I sincerely hope you will join me in supporting the Food Bank in all its many endeavors to solve the problems of hunger in our part of the state.
-Dr Bart Ehrman
Dr. Bart Ehrman
