I confess that I have done well during the pandemic. I am healthy, and I still have a job. Most of my friends consider themselves lucky because they could shelter-in-place and be safe and because they had assets to draw on when the pandemic hit, even if they were laid off from their jobs. So we’re fine. The people I worry about are the hourly workers at LAX who haven’t gotten a paycheck in months; folks who clean our hotel rooms and office buildings; essential workers who are exposed daily to the disease to take care of the sick and to put food in the grocery stores. I really worry about working mothers who can’t return to work because they have to take care of their remote-schooled children.
All of this is why I became a monthly donor to the LA Regional Food Bank. I know the good they have done for decades feeding the hungry in LA County. But this time, it feels different because so many more people have been hurt. My monthly gift isn’t a lot, but I know it adds up to a lot of food going to people in need. Let’s be real: the massive surge in food insecurity we are seeing will continue at least through all of next year and probably longer. This is one of the small ways I give back. Please, if you can, join me.
Catalan