Sr. Sharon Goodremote, FSSJ
Public Policy Coordinator
Catholic Charities

I'll be going to bed hungry tonight. I can't remember ever going to bed hungry. I recall a fact from the Poverty Reduction Blueprint for Buffalo: 47% of the children in Buffalo under 17 years of age live in poverty. If you live in poverty - you usually go to bed hungry. Practically half the children in the city of Buffalo go to bed hungry. Then I think of children who live in poverty in Niagara County and Cattaraugus County. I think they have fewer services, soup kitchens and food pantries than Erie County. A large number of those children go to bed hungry. It's painful even trying to imagine their faces and the hunger in their eyes.

How will this change me? Thursday night, after the poverty challenge, I will have eaten 3 healthy meals - I won't be going to bed hungry and that helps me get through tonight. These children know that, like tonight they go to bed hungry and they'll more than likely they will go to bed hungry on Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night.....

This makes me angry that such a situation can happen in the richest country in the world and that I, in some way, must be responsible for letting it continue. Now that I know more of the experience of poverty and the facts of poverty I cannot live in the same way. One thing I will do is to share with others this experience of mine and the reality of life for so many young people, even at events where people may not want to hear it. --