Washington, DC: Hunger in America Day 4

Day Four: Tuesday May 21. On Tuesday we visited Bread for the World, a faith-based, hunger fighting organization. I was surprised by how comfortable and excited I felt at Bread. I never know what to expect from faith organizations, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Most helpful to us, we received some training and tips on how to go about our advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill the next day, and we were updated on the latest news about the current Farm Bill. One of my favorite quotes from LaMarco Cable was, "there will always be poor people, but poor people don't have to be hungry." Also, did you know it only takes seven letters on an issue before congressmen and women start a file and taking note on that issue? Afterwards we had the rest of the day free (I needed a break and so I returned to the church to write and rest) until meeting for dinner at Founding Farmers (pun!), a farm-inspired American restaurant right in DC. The atmosphere- quirky, fun, and snazzy. The food- amazing! I had the craziest looking deconstructed salad, and I think we all ended up trying everyone's deseserts. :) And as you tend to do in DC, we passed by the White House on our walk back to the church, where I snapped I think my favorite shot of the building from the whole trip. In the evening we met as a group to discuss our plan of attack for our day on the Hill, and I prepared to offer a counterpoint should the opportunity and occasion arise (it did not, but I wrote it in a letter instead).

 this is random, but I liked this pie truck outside of the metro in Chinatown

LaMarco Cable, Deputy Director

my first ever beignets 

the Constitution was housed over there! 

 Dwight D. Eisenhower building- an extension of the White House

Day 1 & 2
Day 3

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Week in Photos

3 little babies/ fruit toppings/ flower in the yard/ dry earth

pasta/ squaking babies/ wreath/ playing with the new doodles

pottery painting and another bird shot

a couple favorite snacks/ dinner prep/ cute miss D

brussels sprouts with little popcorn/ movie night/ Hux/ tasty Indian in Round Rock

IKEA trip!/ Scandinavian treats/ new pillow/ baby bird fell out of the tree

Huxley over the course of two hours/ birds want to fly soon! 

watching the birds out the window/ FEED+Target/ 3 little birds/ summer

season premiere!/ empty nest/ morning nap/ social work is happy times

frozen grapes- the best/ outdoors/ '09 Niagara Falls/ when snails attack

- From the desk of Mrs. M

FEED + Target

Back in March I wrote about FEED and the bag I bought, which paid for school meals for one child for an entire year. Shortly afte I was excited to hear that FEED was partnering up with Target, store of all stores, my temptation, my weakness. Every FEED item you purchase also contributes food and meals to hungry Americans; the best part is each item has a label that tells you exactly how much you are helping out! I went out Sunday morning to check out the collection in stores. You can also shop the collection online. With all the red, white and blue, stars and stripes, it's perfect for July 4th! Ultimately I hope FEED's partnership with a major store will make more people aware that hunger is a big issue in America (50 million hungry people big), and not only that, but an inexcusable, solvable issue. You know you're going to go to Target anyway and spend approximately $25-$50 more than you planned, so be sure to check it out. ;)

I ended up purchasing a tank top and water bottle, for 22 meals total, and I quite like them both. The bottle is smaller than my nalgene, so it fits better to carry with me regularly.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

note: I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just like feeding hungry Americans. :)

Canada Day

Kyle at Niagara Falls, 2009

- From the desk of Mrs. M