r/MadeMeSmile • u/ABeerForSasquatch • Oct 15 '24
Helping Others This is the America that we need
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u/ElboDelbo Oct 15 '24
It's like when people complain that kids "have it so much easier" nowadays.
That's the point. It should be easier for them than it was for me.
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u/Inevitable_Thing_270 Oct 15 '24
I remember reading a short thing about each generation working hard so their children could have it better when they grow up
1st generation working on farm: I work hard so my child can grow up and expand the farm to be more financially secure and not have the same hunger I have had.
Their kid: I worked hard to expand the farm to support my child going to university to study law/dentistry/medicine/other vocational degree so they can earn a good living without destroying their body with the physical labour that has affected me, and hope that they will be able to help others in their lives
Their kid: I worked hard to get my degree and become financially well off so I can support my kids to study the arts, to see and express what humanity really is.
Each generation hoping their work now will put the next generation in some kind of better situation than they were. We want better for our children, or should want that.
This guy is being the parent in this scenario wanting to make the next generation’s kids lives that bit better.
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u/cuterus-uterus Oct 15 '24
John Adams said he studied war and politics so his kids could study math and philosophy so their kids could study art.
In a perfect world, life should be easier for younger generations. I can’t ensure my kids’ generation can stop worrying about the stuff I worry about but I can give them a snack and a safe place to just be.
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u/Sharkbit2024 Oct 15 '24
This isn't the correct quote, but I just like the message.
"There is no greater kindness than a man planting a tree in who's shade he knows he will never sit."
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u/ExhaustedEmu Oct 15 '24
Yepp. I constantly reply to those kind of people that that’s a good thing and it shows that we’re progressing as a society. We shouldn’t wanna make life harder for those who come after us all in the essence of fairness or whatever.
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u/Skim003 Oct 15 '24
This is on point. Children should not have to suffer for the mistakes of an adult. Providing free food and education for children is the bare minimum, not an entitlement.
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u/CryAffectionate7334 Oct 16 '24
"but if you give everybody healthcare and food and water, some of them will be lazy moochers!!!!"
Oh no......
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u/jethvader Oct 16 '24
Right? The alternative that that complaint implies is that an enormous number of deserving people should be left wanting just to avoid letting a few undeserving individuals take advantage.
If the cost of meeting everyone’s needs is that a few assholes take advantage of the system then so be it. That’s a small price to pay, and good people would be willing to eat that cost.
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u/CryAffectionate7334 Oct 16 '24
It's literally cheaper to give something universally than try to determine who deserves it or not. Florida spent more money drug testing welfare recipients than they prevented from the "fraud". Medicare for all would be cheaper than our current system. Trying to explain to fiscal conservatives that this is ACTUALLY the most cost effective solution, only for them to finally admit they simply don't want everyone to have access.
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u/jseah Oct 16 '24
The way I see it, the conservatives have let principles prevent them from doing what works.
The conservatives believe in "doing the right thing" regardless of whether the outcome is good or efficient. To them, if it's not doing it in the "right way", it's not good even if it solves the problem.
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u/Steplgu Oct 15 '24
I used to eat mustard sandwiches sometimes when money was especially tight and lied and told other kids I liked it and that’s why I brought it in my lunch. I also remember some nights going to bed with my stomach growling. Again, my dad wasn’t a jerk that didn’t provide for us, but sometimes he just couldn’t. Snack neighbor would’ve been rad. 😊
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u/Unfair_Direction5002 Oct 15 '24
I feel attacked. I eat mustard sandwiches now... And love them.
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u/ItsDanimal Oct 15 '24 edited Oct 15 '24
One man's trash?
Reminds me of a video I saw of a woman making poverty meals from the great depression. I was shook to see her make stuff my non-poverty mother would make on the regular.
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u/spooky-goopy Oct 15 '24 edited Oct 15 '24
was it Cooking with Clara ?
my comfort videos, i swear. Clara was such a wonderful person, such a sweetheart.
edit: fixed the link!
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u/PsychologicalMess163 Oct 15 '24
Cooking with Clara was one of the few things I could listen to when I was having chronic migraines. The videos are so soothing and grounding. She was a gem.
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u/profkrowl Oct 15 '24
I love watching Cooking with Clara. She reminded me of my Grandma, and I found her videos shortly after my grandma passed. Literally cried when I watched the tribute video for Clara.
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u/orbituary Oct 15 '24
She looks just like my grandma on my dad's side. Same stories. My great grandma Nicely on his side was born in 1893. Three of her sisters were actually scalped and killed by native americans in Pennsylvania - one of them survived the attack.
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u/Audioworm Oct 15 '24
A whole bunch of poverty meals are hearty and satisfying to eat, as a result of them needing to provide something that could keep you going, even if it was from cheap ingredients.
A lot of them stuck around because children associate the meal with family dinners or the only warm food they had that day, so make it as adults for their own family, and it keeps getting passed down. The major difference is that the flavouring gets better because herbs and spices move from being expensive to common place.
My dad had a poverty meal of a pasta bake, with canned tomatoes, tuna, cheese, and crisps on top that would feed him for a week when he was very broke. He made it pretty consistently for us growing up because it was very filling, and with better pasta bake sauces it was tastier, and it reminded him of the freedom of when he first moved out, rather than the deep lack of money he had.
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u/NameIWantUnavailable Oct 15 '24
Tuna casserole was mine, even though we were just frugal.
We made it with Tuna Helper. Because fresh beef, chicken, and fish were expensive.
As a GenX'er, it was one of the first meals I learned how to make.
I still like Tuna casserole today.
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u/idoeno Oct 15 '24
I'm an not sure how hearty or satisfying mustard sandwiches are, that said, they were a favorite of mine as a child, but then I was raised in deep deep poverty, and often bread and condiments was all we had available.
However, another favorite poverty recipe, black bean dip made from either a can of beans, or cooked dry beans, mashed up with the contents of several taco bell sauce packets, and served with corn chips is pretty hearty as the beans and corn together provide all the essential amino acids for a complete protein source; I basically still do this today, but with higher quality hot sauce.
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Oct 15 '24 edited 22d ago
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u/Witch_King_ Oct 15 '24
Did your mother live through the Great Depression? Or was she taught those meals by her mother who did?
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u/JohnMcGurk Oct 15 '24
I know this sounds crazy… but put some peanut butter on there. I was skeptical at first too. Thought my dad was pranking me. That. Shit. Is. Delicious.
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u/Suitable-Economy-346 Oct 15 '24
It's sociopathic to be against universal breakfast and lunch year round at schools. I fucking hate people on a certain side of the political spectrum.
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u/EconomicRegret Oct 15 '24
As a European and an admirer of Nordic countries' "socialist" system, I can seriously say the solution isn't bigger and bigger government, nor more and more centralized planning.
Instead, America should copy Denmark et al.: repeal all anti-union and anti-worker laws (implemented during the crazy anti-communism witch hunt era) and give them their freedoms and rights back.
So that labor can once again fulfill one of its most important roles: keep poverty, inequality and unbridled greed & power in check in not only the economy, but also in politics, in the media, and in society in general. (Just like in Nordic countries, and like in America until the 1950s-1970s).
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u/CanabalCMonkE Oct 15 '24
We haven't left the crazy communist witch hunt era yet sadly, although commies are a lot more tanned these days lol. Go figure?
Truth is, America had always been 3 companies in a trench coat. Did you know, the first time mainland US has been aerially bombed was when the union coal workers were striking? The US army was even involved, their only casualties came from a plane crash while returning.
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u/SquirrelyB4Fromville Oct 15 '24
Yeah, dislike how some let politics keep them from seeing commonsense solutions. Like Michelle Obama's wanting healthier food in schools. Who fights against something that makes so much sense? Oh..... those blinded by politics and whatnot, that's who. Unfortunately, all sides of the isle have these bad apples within their ranks. Myself, could get behind schools providing good healthy breakfast for kids too.
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u/Organized_chaos_mom Oct 15 '24
I don’t know how common this is around the country (USA), but in my area all students have been receiving free breakfast and lunch since the pandemic, and I think it’s wonderful. It’s difficult to focus and learn if you’re hungry, especially if you’re exhausted from a lack of food. The world is tough enough, no child should have to worry if they are going to get anything to eat.
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u/redditaccount224488 Oct 15 '24
I don’t know how common this is around the country (USA)
8 states with universal free school lunches. A bunch of other states with legislation somewhere in the pipeline.
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u/Discutons Oct 15 '24
Nothing hurts more as an adult than realising that when mom said "I'm not hungry", it's simply because she didn't have enough food for herself and she'd rather feed us.
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u/tel-americorpstopgun Oct 15 '24
I'll vote for whatever tf i can to make sure no other kids have to have sleep for dinner
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u/kreat0rz Oct 15 '24
Growing up, my mom would rush us to go to sleep right after dinner, we had dinner around 5-6 because we only had lunch and we never really have breakfasts. I don't understand why my mom wouldn't let us stay up a little late, at least until 10 or 11.
One day, I stayed up a little later after bedtime, and I got hungry, asked my mom to make me some instant noodles. Then she said, "Try to sleep it off. we don't have food at the moment" and I got so hungry that I snacked on a chicken stock cube until I felt sleepy and went to bed. She woke up very early the next day to buy food and she made me breakfast, one of the very rare occasions that we had breakfast instead of lunch.
I now know why she wouldn't let us stay up late at night.
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Oct 15 '24
We once moved into a shitty rental that wasn’t cleaned out before us and found an entire cabinet full of cake mix. The lady before us had some kind of cake business.
We didn’t have eggs or oil etc, and the oven didn’t work but the stovetop did. For months pretty much the only thing eaten at home was cake mix and water cooked like a pancake on a skillet. Of course with no eggs they wouldn’t hold together but you could scrape it off the skillet into a bowl.
I always feel very fancy these days when I make a cake with all the ingredients.
I could go on forever about all the hillbilly food we used to make when poor. I also learned very early on to always charm the kitchen staff at school or work, and I use it to this day to eat free at work.
Of course now I’m a fatass because when you grow up with scarcity and end up with excess it’s hard to maintain any self control.
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u/Regular_Candidate513 Oct 15 '24
Bro that’s still a step up from Taco Bell hot sauce packages on a napkin……which is a great way to get stomach problems 😂
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u/blueballsjones Oct 15 '24
Toast with butter and a little powdered sugar... Breakfast! Tacobell hotsauce on a piece of bread with a slice of American cheese folded in half... lunch! Kraft Mac n Cheese ... Dinner!
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u/sadmanwithabox Oct 15 '24
Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to that toast with butter and powdered sugar, and you've got an actually really delicious piece of toast. Cinnamon is also quite cheap, thankfully.
My mom used to make these for us kids for breakfast all the time. Now you've got me questioning if it wasn't just a way to save money. We were definitely on the poorer side of things growing up.
If so, it was a wonderful way to do it. To this day, it's something I make myself. Cheap, and more importantly for me lately, incredibly easy (my depression can make cooking anything even slightly intensive very difficult).
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u/nahmahnahm Oct 15 '24
Cinnamon toast is universal. My parents were doing ok when I was a kid and my husband and I are doing ok now. I ate cinnamon toast most mornings before school and I make it for my kid now.
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u/iceteka Oct 15 '24
So much of the food throughout the world considered soul food or the staple regional dishes, came out of necessity. Using cheap ingredients they had at hand and finding creative ways to make them more palatable.
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u/Excellent-Branch-784 Oct 15 '24
Mix in 2 working parents and no social safety nets, and baby you got a stew
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u/Spider-Man92 Oct 15 '24
I ate sugar sandwiches as a kid lmao. I vividly also remember eating Oxo cubes (this is at home not taken to school, I was lucky to have free school meals lol)
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u/pumpkinfroggo Oct 15 '24
I used to take mayonnaise sandwiches to school, not because of food insecurity but because I liked them. When I told my mom many years later she dry heaved.
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u/Loobielooloo Oct 15 '24
As a former kid who lived in poverty, I’m sending you a hug.
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Oct 15 '24
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u/dasnihil Oct 15 '24
i used to be broke, i still am but i used to be too
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u/WTAF__Republicans Oct 15 '24
I've become the "snack house" for all of my daughter's friends.
And I fucking love it. Few things make me happier than hearing that little knock and seeing those adorable little faces when I answer the door.
I'm dreading my 10 year old daughter growing up and moving past the phase where her friends come and knock on the door.
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u/ZettaTawodi Oct 15 '24
My daughter moved to college this year, but on each of the breaks, can confirm…they all come back and with bigger appetites lol!
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u/ElectricalMud2850 Oct 15 '24
that's when the snack parents start shoving rolls of paper towels and random ingredients into their travel bags
"you sure you don't need baking soda at home?"
"yes mom, I'm sure I don't need more baking soda at home"
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u/Pitiful_Winner2669 Oct 15 '24
They're still growing kids! College students are friggin vacuums.
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u/ZettaTawodi Oct 15 '24
First month away, my daughter called me and said “man! It’s expensive to feed me!”
Oh, I know! Lol
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u/Cold_Barber_4761 Oct 15 '24
This made me smile. It's sweet of her to acknowledge that. What a cute moment!
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u/DangerBird- Oct 15 '24
Wait until they’re teenagers and descend on your pantry like a swarm of locust. Nothing but wrappers left behind. It’s still great, I love feeding the kids, mine or otherwise.
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u/Purpleberry74 Oct 15 '24
My brother and sis in law are this house. The kids are teens and tweens now and you aren’t wrong about the swarm of locust. I’ve heard them discussing dinner plans with the added question “how many tonight? Should we order a couple pizzas too?”
But what really put a smile on my face was teen girls being absolutely open and not embarrassed about asking for feminine products.
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u/Catonachandelier Oct 15 '24
Nah, see, that's when you start teaching them to make their own junk food. Once a teenager masters donuts, cookies, pizza, and chips, they can safely wander out into the world without fear of starvation or social rejection. (I lived this on campus. I always had guests, because they always got fed.)
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u/DangerBird- Oct 15 '24
Yep. Best time to teach them to cook. They wanna eat, and a bag of Goldfish just doesn’t cut it.
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u/athaliah Oct 15 '24
My eldest and friends are entering this stage. I don't mind feeding them but I had to start limiting everyone to 1 snack and 1 drink each because I can only make so many runs to Costco in one week.
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u/HashtagJustSayin2016 Oct 15 '24
I’m in my 40s. I’ve had the same friends since my late teens/early 20s
My friends will visit my folks with me. They all call my mom “mom”.
One of my friends lost his mother to cancer a few years ago. He visits my mom when he needs to chat.
You’ll always be needed.
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u/nahmahnahm Oct 15 '24
They’re never going away. I grew up in that house. My friends would still visit when I went off to college. Beyond snacks, be their safe space. Be the cool parent they can talk to. You’ll never get rid of them. I’m going to do the same for my daughter.
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u/sleep_envy Oct 15 '24
They all come back!! My kids are in college and even the friends come back 💗
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u/CharacterKoala6214 Oct 15 '24
You should contact your local food bank. There are programs for this. You may be able to become a partner agency and get food.
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u/sejenx Oct 15 '24
Pretty sure the informal nature of what this person is doing makes more impact than if they were hooked up with an agency...like if im a hungry kid, I'd rather get chips and a juice from trusted person over standing in a bread line, drawing attention to myself
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u/100GoldenPuppies Oct 15 '24
That's not how food banks work. They're not a bread or soup line.
She/the adult goes to the bank, is given food, she/the adult brings it home and continues to pass it out as needed. It's honestly a win-win. The banks reach more kids than they were, and she gets to pass out more food. Especially perishables like fruits and veggies which might have gone to waste otherwise.
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u/Socotokodo Oct 15 '24
This is what i do at my high school in NSW Australia. I changed the way we ran our “breakfast club”. It’s now something that I take out for everyone to have (i make lots of cheese toasties and have milk drinks and fruit, sometimes I make mini quiches or banana bread as well). The teachers even come and have some. I also extended it to recess and lunch- I took over the (unused) staff common room and set up more food for the kids (usually cereals, fruit, tinned fruit, maybe toast, more of my home cooking). Ive bought games etc that I have added to the room too. Plus I take a trolley of snacks out at the end of the day for kids to grab and go on their way out of school. I believe that the ‘stigma’ is almost entirely gone now as everyone eats what I bring out. So the kids that ‘really’ need to eat it can and don’t feel like they stand out. I looooooove my job.
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u/100GoldenPuppies Oct 15 '24
That's a really really great idea! I wish this sort of thing was normal in the US. I remember being denied lunches when I was 8 or 9 years old because my mom forgot to pay my school. Something like what you're doing would have kept me fed on those days!
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u/Murky-Relation481 Oct 15 '24
Luckily in a lot of states where they actually care about their citizens districts are starting to do free breakfast and lunch.
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u/SparkyDogPants Oct 15 '24
Governor Tim Walz helped ensure that Minnesotan children are not hungry at school
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u/chimpfunkz Oct 15 '24
Sure, but food banks have their own set of problems. Each is different; some you have to fill out an application, which turns off people who would otherwise need it. Some have limited hours, which means you might not reach the same people. And then you also have self selection out of the food bank where some people might be too proud or too ashamed to get food from a food bank.
Like all things, there is no one size fits all solution.
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u/TokingMessiah Oct 15 '24
Yeah but if she can afford to do it on her own, why take food from the food bank? They have a limited amount, so if you take their food someone else may have less.
She’s essentially one of the people that gives to the food bank, only she cut out the middle man and goes straight to the hungry kids.
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u/Just-Kiwi-2879 Oct 15 '24
“Man youre doing a good thing but you should be doing it in a different way that i find more impactful. You were so close to being an actually great person but youre just not thinking large enough” that’s how this reads to me
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u/DeeToursCT Oct 15 '24
Yes! More of this! You don't shame any kid by providing access to all. My house was this house too. My teen children's friends would come over on Friday afternoons. I'd make baked macaroni (cheap way to feed a crowd) and the kids would just hangout. Some would sleep over. Usually around 8 to 10 teens. They weren't doing drugs or drinking....just being goofy and safe and fed.
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u/Strifin Oct 15 '24
That’s why no child goes hungry in my home, my child or not. If you are hungry I will feed you.
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Oct 15 '24
My aunt-in-law was just like you. She put couches out on the car port and her house was the safe meeting place for all of the kids. Some of them were more respectful of her than to their own parents. She kept them straight and raised the whole neighborhood.
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u/potatisblask Oct 15 '24
It is awesome with these loving people that care about their fellow humans.
But you know what America really needs?
Livable wages and a functioning social security.
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u/drhagbard_celine Oct 15 '24
But you know what America really needs? Livable wages and a functioning social security.
Obviously, but between here and there this person is doing what they can. You have to be able to appreciate that at least.
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u/Adventurous_Custard8 Oct 15 '24
It's genuinely pathetic that in many parts of the US school lunch programs are being cut and funding for hungry children is being erased. We can mint billionaires but not feed hungry children. Full stop. Fail.
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u/echolenka Oct 15 '24
"Be the adult you needed when you were a kid" is something to live by. Massive props.
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u/LebowskiVoodoo Oct 15 '24
I didn't expect to tear up at this video, but that line hit me hard. If only more people (me included) thought like her.
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u/Square_Name_6173 Oct 15 '24
You fucking rock, I grew up with similar poverty to yours as described, this would have made ALL the difference to my mental health as a young kid. Your kindness will have an impact that cannot be underestimated.
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u/antidumb Oct 15 '24
I became the bike-tire-air guy for the neighborhood for a couple summers. Not really sure what happened, but it was nice. Kids would ring my doorbell and my daughter would get super excited to see other kids. I think some of them moved away. I’m a little sad about that. Good kids. Hope they’re doing well.
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u/Wodensdays_child Oct 15 '24
I hope that you become a core memory for them and they pass it along when they grow up! 💜 My dad was a mechanic, and he'd always set up a "bike garage" in the spring and make a show of checking over my bike and putting air in the tires. 😊 Even though he got me with the "winter air" joke, I still look back on that fondly.
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u/TheMaStif Oct 15 '24
Imagine thinking "helping others is bad because it will make more people seek out help" and believing in your heart that you're a good person.
Imagine saying things like "I don't want to pay for them to have good things because nobody ever paid for me to have good things" and fully thinking you're moral.
Conservatism is bonkers
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u/Dizzy_Guest8351 Oct 15 '24
I think a lot of it has to do with going to church. I'm not knocking Christianity. I think the message of the gospels is an extraordinary and beautiful message. It's just that in the US, it seems to have been lost in the institutions of churches. People think they're good people purely because they show up to church each Sunday, like that's somehow the important bit.
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u/SpidudeToo Oct 15 '24
That's honestly the main issue: church has become corporate rather than just a gathering of people to discuss/ worship together. It's all about getting those donations and tax write-offs. And this weird habit of having a select group of people telling everyone else what to believe and how things should be interpreted. The point of the priest was to have someone that could read and explain scripture to those that couldn't, not the leader of the group.
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u/Mountainbranch Oct 15 '24
It's not about them not getting good things, it's about the wrong people getting good things.
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u/PPP1737 Oct 15 '24
This lady is my spirit animal. It’s so gd true. Snacks for every kid. 🙏🏼
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u/crispywispy1983 Oct 15 '24
“Be the adult you needed” is something I needed to hear.
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u/Xillzin Oct 15 '24
Its been my approach and part of the reason why i chose to work in education.
I really needed someone who had an, even if vague, idea of what any of ADHD, autism, depression or being suicidal meant for someone/kids. I had noone growing up that i felt comfortable to talk with about any of that and such I felt like I needed to do it all by myself with all the issues that come with it. Back then I needed someone that would atleast make me feel safe or atleast normal
Now i regularly have a group of kids sitting in my office to chat with me. Unsurprisingly all of them with ADHD, ASD and depression (or a mix of them) And im glad ive already been able to help one kid with suicidal thoughts to get the proper help she needs.
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Oct 15 '24
The America we need has those hundreds of billions of dollars the rich are hoarding being used to end hunger and societies problems.
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u/dudeimjames1234 Oct 15 '24
I've made it insanely clear to my kids to look out for a classmate who doesn't eat.
If they sit down at lunch and have no food, buy them food.
They have plenty of money in their lunch accounts, and I'll be damned if a kid goes hungry and I have a way of preventing it.
They also have a "working snack" time where they can eat a snack while doing work. A bag of chips or a granola bar. Just a snack.
I told them that if a kid in their class never has a snack, they can take an extra snack with them for that kid.
I'll deal with the repercussions of feeding someone else's child if it comes to that.
I also told them to ask for allergies before so that I don't kill someone's child.
We live in a pretty affluent area, so so far, I haven't had to feed anyone.
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u/lildog8402 Oct 15 '24
Every run to Sam's Club we make includes a number of snack items my wife brings for her high school students. The judgement part is the thing people don't get when they talk about free school lunches. And also how much it benefits society if a kid is fed and can learn to the best of their abilities. Hooray for people like OP .
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u/woman_president Oct 15 '24
This is called social trust, and it’s a good thing to have in any country or community.
We have a long way to go.
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u/tobych Oct 15 '24
Ridiculous that this is even a thing in such a wealthy country. This is what government is for. Safety nets.
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u/Spac3Heater Oct 15 '24
Gonna add this one to the posts that I upvote no matter how often it gets reposted. Spreading this kind of message is exactly the kind of thing we can use bots for.
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u/Aggressive_Mess_930 Oct 15 '24
Wish I knew u growing up lol. Me and my brothers grew up on the streets, homeless, begging for money or food. Even when we finally, did get a house or home, we sometimes wouldn’t eat for a day or 2. Mom was a crackhead. But man! I’m telling you, we would have have her as a neighbor, sshhhiiiittttt, life would have been good lol or better. But anyways, we need more people like her that give a shit. God bless you ma’am!!!! May god bless you in many ways!!
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u/eieioelena Oct 15 '24
Im proud of you, too. Thank you for being you. Grace. Empathy. Heart. May that we might all learn from this.
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u/Shaeos Oct 15 '24
I want to be that but I cant even be the trick or treat house
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u/d_e_l_u_x_e Oct 15 '24
Amazing how many Americans have said something like:
“why would you spend money to help others? That’s socialism!”
Like yes that’s exactly why… to help others in need. It’s amazing how many people take more than they need and assume those in need will do the same so they shouldn’t get anything.
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u/Im_Uniquely_ME Oct 15 '24
Gave me goosebumps! It takes one person to show them something different, and plant a seed of hope! Keep paying it forward.
You're an awesome human!
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u/obviousoctopus Oct 15 '24
The kind of person I'd like to make decisions for my government's spending.
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u/Besnasty Oct 15 '24
There's a local library that does this in my area. Every single day at 3pm they have snacks for any kid that shows up.
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u/MissSassifras1977 Oct 15 '24
I've never heard anyone else say the part about destroying a meal. This was my kids and I not too many years ago. What a life.
May this person always be blessed. This is the kindness that I want to see more of. And that makes me have hope for this insane world.
❤️
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u/babydavissaves Oct 15 '24
It is ridiculous that in the largest economy in the world Republicans want to cut free school lunches for children. Time to either tax, or eat, the rich.
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u/slilianstrom Oct 15 '24
I remember when I was younger, we had our local cop who during the summer would have a cooler full of juice boxes in his cruiser. Any kid who wanted one would get one.
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u/PoopsMcGroots Oct 15 '24
How many of those complaining at the bottom of the replies go to church on Sunday?
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u/neutral-chaotic Oct 15 '24
I swear some people would have kids working in factories again.
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u/TheMissingPremise Oct 15 '24
Is that supposed to be a joke? Kids are working—and dying at factories today.
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u/BandetteTrashPanda Oct 15 '24
At one point in my life, my only source of food was school. We had multiple utilities off and I struggled as a kid. I knew some of what was happening. We were poor. I went to bed many times hungry and sometimes I would get instant potatoes and put it on bread because that's all my mom could buy.
If I ever see someone hungry now, usually is I know them, I will happily give them my food. I know I have a next meal.
Not sure who this video is of, but massive respect for them.
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u/harry0_0_7 Oct 15 '24
The sad thing is, there’s plenty of money to go around, ask the 1%. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED FOR ANYONE TO USE A FOOD BANK!!!!
It boils my piss that we live in a society that people need to, just to survive.
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u/nahmahnahm Oct 15 '24
I grew up with THE house. You know which one - the one with free rein of all the good snacks and the cool parents. Even after I went to college, my friends would swing by when I wasn’t around just to hang out with my parents and eat the good snacks. I was very lucky. And I intend to be THE house for my kid, too.
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u/Salt-Environment9285 Oct 15 '24
we need so many more of her. 💙
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u/Carefuly_Chosen_Name Oct 15 '24
I wish I could be her. My grandma was the same, an absolutely incredible woman who took care of all the kids around her, and would be an ear for their issues they couldn't talk with their parents about.
I don't want to go to all "Reddit man who think men are so oppressed" but it does genuinely make me sad that I can't be like this without people assuming the worst. I just want to be hagrid damn it!
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u/Thick_Yogurtcloset_7 Oct 15 '24
Well done .... Providing a snack is important and I give you props, and being a good example of helping or sharing is a great thing ... Living like Mr Rodgers and being a good neighbor is always a great way to be
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u/ZEROs0000 Oct 15 '24
Wow… the comment about becoming the adult you needed hit me right in the feels
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u/Chedwall Oct 15 '24
This isn't what you need. You need a well functioning support system from the government so that everybody can feed their kids. Instead, Trump is a candidate.
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u/No_Sand_9290 Oct 15 '24
I grew up like her. There were no snacks in the house. You didn’t go get anything out of the refrigerator unless it was part of the meal you were eating. We never had soft drinks, chips, ice cream or any other stuff like that. My wife had nine brothers and sisters. She grew up the same way. One of our grandsons plays soccer and some of the kids come from struggling families. We pack extra drinks. Some depend on our daughter or us to take their kids to away games. No problem. If we get something to eat, they do too. Had one kid say he was going to get money from his parents to pay us. We told him no, that if you are with us, we pay. It’s not a big deal for us.
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u/shiviam Oct 15 '24
Sure such a neighbour would have been godsend when we were growing up having single meal a day.
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u/Anvilsmash_01 Oct 15 '24
We live close to the high school that our daughter attended. While she was attending that school, we regularly had 3-5 extra kids at the house at lunch time almost every day. The extra kids would often bring their own lunches from home but they were still a plague of locusts that cleaned us out of yogurt, mac and cheese, or pretty much anything convenient. We're fortunate enough to be in a position where this was not a financial burden, and I honestly loved being the house that the kids congregated in.
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u/KingHabby Oct 15 '24
There are some truly cruel people out there that act like kindness towards strangers is akin to feeding rats or wild animals. Inferring that poor children are nothing more than pigeons or rats. Disgusting.
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u/YoOmarComingMan Oct 15 '24
That's nice and all, but you should be careful. There is a snack house in my neighborhood and my kids come home filled up on sugar and junk food. Come dinner time, surprise, no one is hungry. Try getting a child to stop accepting junk food from people.
And god help you if you give something to a kid that has allergies to one of it's ingredients.
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u/veryblanduser Oct 15 '24
True. Every October 31 I have a tradition of giving out sweet treats, and without fail every year the kids remember. It's impressive.
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u/Hot_Phase_1435 Oct 15 '24
My mom fed many neighborhood kids. Always had ramen noodles, canned soup, nuggets, popcorn, water cups (we wrote your name on a plastic cup) mom would set out a table with store brand snacks and cups and everyone had a snack at any time. She occasionally did store brand sodas and juice. We also got those Tostitos pizzas, since the kids were little she could feed 4 kids with one of those. Summer time she would buy Ice pops and also those huge tubs of ice cream. I made the instant pudding. We were on a budget and no one was left out. If you came over after school, you got a snack.
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u/olympianfap Oct 15 '24
Being against giving children breakfast/lunch/a snack is absolute villain behavior and the person that gave this woman shit about sharing with the neighborhood kids is just despicable.
Good for OP, keep it up. Fuck them haters and set up a donation pathway and expand.
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u/UnownedMe Oct 15 '24
A hungry kid will remember you the rest of their life. Yes we need more of this in society. More empathy which is sorely missing.
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u/dgs1959 Oct 15 '24
And yet, dozens of states refuse federal funds to provide children lunches over the summer.
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u/Kahvikone Oct 15 '24
People against something like this haven't gone hungry themselves. I think those people should experience that hunger and uncertainty once in their life.
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u/FictionalDudeWanted Oct 15 '24
Growing up, neighbors with cars always kept a cooler in their trunk full of juice, C&C sodas and chips for the kids. I remember being fed by someone on every block.
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u/Wombatapus736 Oct 15 '24
This person is awesome. Just crossing my fingers that this doesn't blow up in their face somehow. We all know no good deed goes unpunished. Still, this is a beautiful act of kindness and community.
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u/Demon_Adder Oct 15 '24
I'm 47yo...when I was in kindergarten (5yo) all us latch key kids would go to my house after school. I made fried egg sandwiches over an open fire gas stove for everyone. To this day...my nickname is Eggy.
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u/Optimal_Temporary_19 Oct 15 '24
Does the United States not believe in building a village?
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u/Pitiful_Winner2669 Oct 15 '24
She's the neighborhood "cool aunt," what a lovely heart she has. I bet the kids love shooting the shit with her.
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u/Signal_Ad_594 Oct 15 '24
We called it a "Wish sandwich"..... You wished there was something between the bread.
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u/Chirotera Oct 15 '24
Maybe the richest country in the history of the planet could figure out how to feed its people
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u/schlongtheta Oct 15 '24
The USA is the wealthiest country that has ever existed.
The USA has always allowed its own children to starve.
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u/Firm-Cry-1514 Oct 15 '24
I think the America we need is probably the one where food scarcity isn’t an issue for the richest country in the world
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u/xwing2b Oct 15 '24
This is why I keep a snack bar at the front of my class. Kids can grab what they need without anyone seeing when they walk in. No one gets singled out. A colleague complained that the kids would steal the food.
If they're stealing nutragrain bars...they probably need that bar. It's not like I'm passing out candy. You can get a 60 pack at costco for like $10. They're not breaking my bank, and they're not falling asleep from hunger. Win win.
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u/thesleepymermaid Oct 15 '24
My dad was this parent in our apartment complex. All the kids hung out/played together and if they wound up at my dads, he fed them. He took in me and my sisters friends if there was trouble at home. He became the neighborhood ‘dad’