May 08, 2008

Chicks and Piglets ….

Pam Koner, from Family-to-Family (http://www.family-to-family.org) just called. It is always great to catch up with Pam and hear about the latest ways she is helping to relieve poverty and hunger throughout many rural areas in this country. In the past we have partnered with Pam in unique and interesting ways-microloans, seed money for cottage industries and other ways a modest amount of money can make BIG changes for many people.

Pam spent this past weekend in Myra, Kentucky, a deeply impoverished town in the Appalachians. Myra is a community she has worked with for some time and with this visit she was able to further develop a new idea for Myra and we are excited to be working with her to make it possible… With so many people unemployed, hunger is a huge problem in Myra…despair, hunger and poverty go hand-in-hand here. Pam’s idea is to return many of Myra’s residents to the activity that so many of their parents and grandparents were involved in-farming. How great it would be if they could be given seeds, chickens, even piglets(!) and be taught how to farm…the land is rich and fertile, the basic tools needed are relatively inexpensive… add some education about farming and lessons on how to can or preserve your bounty so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor long after the fields have been cleared and voila!…you have a plan that can work. Pam’s goal is to start small-with a pilot of maybe 4 or 5 families and then evaluate the outcome. If this works, the options are numerous…we await more word from Pam on how she is going to proceed and will definitely be part of this exciting program to help feed hungry people.