 Dani's
Causes
I am grateful for what I have. I have been searching for a grass- roots organization
– one that I believed in – one where the monies I would collect would
actually go to the needy and not just trickle down to them in minute
quantities.
Children are so on my mind... we give them the gift of life but so often
the gift is abused. So often our children are not cared for... runaways –
living underground in condemned buildings, selling themselves for survival.
"Children of the Night" comes to mind so frequently – a wonderful
organization trying to help these forgotten souls – guiding them to a new way
of life, hopefully.
What could I do? How could I, in my small way, give back a little and in
so doing, make people more aware...
Sometimes I want to scream, "Wake up!" We are sending young
people to war, some of them children in their teens, too young to buy a beer
but old enough to bear arms... to do irreparable damage to others and
themselves... but I digress... just a little. It brings us to the point of
caring for our fellow men and women, boys and girls.
I came across a book called "Reinvesting in America" by Robin Garr.
It's about the grass-roots movements that are feeding the hungry and housing
the homeless. It's a real eye-opener. I also went 'online.' and was so
impressed by what I found. I was drawn to the Oregon Food Bank. A
community-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting hunger and its
root causes.
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I donate $1
from every CD sale
of LIKE A WOMAN to
local food banks.
Just $1 provides
9 pounds of food
to a hungry family.
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It so happened that I had begun to plan my CD release tour in Portland. A
beautiful city, full of life, great musicians, fine jazz and wonderful
friends.
I visited the Oregon Food Bank. I was given a tour by the director, Briana
Winterborn. I was so impressed. They have classes in nutrition, advocacy and
outreach programs and they are starting a garden where gardening enthusiasts
are invited to help grow food to feed low-income individuals in the community.
These are just a few things on the long list of ideas and plans.
I had no idea that there were so many hungry people in Oregon and so many
hungry people in the US. Food is such a basic need – isn't it? How can we
expect to educate hungry children?
I made a quick decision: I intend to donate to the food banks in all the
cities I visit and they will be the recipients of the $1 per CD sale in
retail stores and on-line sales.
We must all help fight this terrible tragedy of hunger in America. A few statistics for you:
- In 2001, 23.3 million different people used the America's Second harvest network for emergency food assistance.
- In any given week, an estimated 7 million people are served at emergency feeding sites around the country.
- According to the USDA, in 2001 the number of Americans who were food insecure, or hungry or at a risk of hunger, was 33.6 million!
- 9 million of the people served by ASH are children.
- 64% OF PEOPLE LIVING IN POVERTY WORK FULL TIME!
- 1 IN 5 CHILDREN LIVE IN POVERTY
LIKE A WOMAN is available for purchase online from CDBaby.com. The CD is also available from Tower.com and Sony Connect, and may be downloaded from Apple iTunes, and many other music download services.
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