Working to help eradicate hunger in their area, several Seattle area Volunteer Ministers (VMs) regularly assist at the city’s Food Lifeline Center, a non-profit organization feeding those in need throughout western Washington.
The purpose of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers is to simply help their fellow Man whenever and wherever disaster large or small may strike. So when VMs in the Seattle area heard about the purpose and needs of Food Lifeline they wanted to help.
In one of the most extensive public assessments of current US trends, researchers discovered 1 out of every 49 Americans has an insufficient supply of nutritious food on a regular or predictable basis. They labeled this situation, “food insecurity.” What that means for the daily lives of millions is that they are often forced to choose between buying food or paying the rent, getting adequate medical care, having bus fare to go to work or having heat and light in their homes.
Dave, one of the Seattle area VMs, said he didn’t know anything about the hunger problem until he visited Food Lifeline. “I think it’s something people are embarrassed to talk about—the fact that they aren’t getting enough to eat,” said Dave. “But hunger really is a big issue here in western Washington.”
The facts are: the majority of adults in western Washington State who face “food insecurity” are employed and 46% of them have gone to college or technical school. Last year the Food Lifeline provided a safety net for more than 600,000 people in the region—253,000 of them children.
Dave likes the idea that at the end of an evening’s work, he and the other Volunteer Ministers receive certificates equating the pounds of food they prepared for distribution to the number of meals they made available to people. “I was surprised when I found out in just one night alone our group had prepared 10,608 meals for the needy,” said Dave. “I was proud to look at what I had done and to know I had created a difference in people’s lives. That’s really why any of us VMs do what we do.”
