If you can spare it, now would be a great time to donate to your local food bank. From the Philanthropy News Digest:
At a time of growing concern about joblessness and high heating prices, charities in Massachusetts are seeing a significant increase in the number of families seeking food and are bracing for a spike in holiday demand, the Boston Globe reports.
According to a recent survey of 163 pantries and soup kitchens conducted by the Greater Boston Food Bank, 90 percent of respondents reported a significant increase in need. At the same time, the Salvation Army has seen a big jump in the number of individuals seeking help with food or energy bills. Indeed, between October 2007 and May 2008, requests were up 48 percent in Milford, 66 percent in Framingham, and 86 percent in Greenfield.
To make matters worse, high food prices are squeezing the budgets of relief organizations. For example, the price of Thanksgiving turkeys increased from 77 cents a pound last year to $1.06 a pound this year, said the Greater Boston Food Bank. The increase means the Salvation Army's South End Thanksgiving Distribution program will be short four hundred turkeys this year and that senior citizens who expected to take a turkey dinner home will have to go to a group Thanksgiving dinner instead.
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