Well, here it is the last month of 2008 and I find myself asking the same question as I normally do this same time every year...where did all the time go?  I get so caught up in my own little half of the world that I rarely take the time to consider how the other half is doing.  As I lay here in my bed writing this on my MacBook (which is conveniently connected wirelessly to the internet via my own personal WiFi network), I know that somewhere right now, there is a small child going to sleep once again without having a meal to eat all day long.  I think of all the food I waste in any given day...and I feel ashamed.  Food sitting on the shelves of my pantry that will probably end up in the trash.  Cases of water stacked neatly in the corner of my two car garage, right next to my spare refrigerator stocked full of can drinks and frozen foods that will not fit inside the main refrigerator that resides within my cozy kitchen.  And, if that's not enough for me, I have numbers to restaurants programmed into my cell phone that will deliver food right to my doorstep in thirty minutes or less.  What more could a person ask for?  I should be happy with all I have, yet week after week, I somehow manage to find some little thing that I just can't live without.  I think about all I have and how others are left to struggle with so little...and it makes me feel very guilty.  I know there is a whole other world out there beyond the comforts of my suburbia...that tolerates both mental and physical challenges on a daily basis that I can't even begin to imagine.

I remember growing up thinking about what the world might be like in the year 2000.  It seemed so very distant to me at the time.  I would read articles in Popular Mechanics magazine about all these gizmos and gadgets that would be invented and it was all so futuristic and strange.  That future is now.  I would have never dreamed that after all of these years, that more humans would be starving than ever before.  How can this be?  How can we, living in such a modern civilization, stand by and allow this to happen to innocent people?  Pictures of such poverty might bring tears to ones eyes, but for me it brings anger.  I live in a country whose government is wasting billions of dollars to bailout companies that aren't deserving and have been ripping off the public for years.  A country that will spend millions more to support the scum of the earth that roam about in luxury within the protected walls of our federal penitentiaries.  It is absurd that we continue to pamper criminals sitting on death row who have committed vicious crimes against humanity, while we allow innocent children to starve and suffer.  It costs tax payers on an average of $100,000 per year per person on death row.  California alone spends more than 35 million dollars a year just to keep these low lifes alive.  For only $30 a month, we could feed a starving child who is much more deserving and in greater need.  That's only one dollar a day!  Nations around the globe should be setting aside money just for this cause.  Do away with one less fighter jet and maybe a missile or two.  The money is there!  There is absolutely no reason why one person should go to bed hungry, although millions do it every single night.  Our governments don't mind sticking their noses in everyones business, but when it comes to world hunger they have no problem looking the other way.  These days, I find it hard to sit through a single national anthem or to hear the pledge of allegiance without a slight cringe on my face.  Some may call that unpatriotic.  But, what do you call ignoring the cry for help from the hungry mouths of those who can not feed themselves?

We can not afford to wait for our governments to take action.  Help is needed right now!  Some where at this very moment is a small child in need.  Some will not make it through the night, while others will wake up just as hungry as the day before.  Please, do what you can.  Any amount you give will do a world of wonders.  You alone can not feed the starving millions, however, if we all work together we can easily feed the world one mouth at a time.  I urge you to take just a few minutes of your time and visit FeedTheChildren.Org.  There are many different organizations around the globe doing wonderful deeds.  I know Feed The Children organization to be honest, caring, and very giving.  You can trust that every single penny you send in will not be wasted.  No matter what the tragedy is, be it an act of nature or an abandoned baby...one organization that goes above and beyond is Feed The Children.  What may seem like very little to you may just be EVERYTHING to someone else.  Do what you can and sponsor a child today!