|
|
October 15, 2004/Tishri 30 5765, Vol. 57, No. 7
Hunger: A ripe political issue
MICHAEL MIKLOFSKY
Staff Writer
While Valley syna-gogues and Jewish organizations collect food during the High Holidays or during food drives throughout the year, one national organization works year-round to bring attention to the need to feed the world's hungry.
In the past two to three years, the number of people in the country needing food assistance has steadily risen, said Eric Schockman, presi-dent of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.
Schockman was one of four panelists at an event hosted Oct. 6 by St. Mary's Food Bank. "The Politics of Hunger: A Town Hall Meeting," also featured Wayne Tormala, com-munity initiatives co-ordinator for the City of Phoenix; Dr. Linda Vaughan, chairwoman of the Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University; and David Schwake, food service director for Litchfield Elementary District.
"What we need to do (is) to really galvanize communities to address collectively a strategy to look at our public will to end hunger in America," said Schockman, who has headed the Los Angeles-based Jewish or-ganization, for the past three years. He said that these town hall meetings are being held in four battleground states for the 2004 general election.
MAZON has a goal to "cut hunger insecurity in half by 2010 and to end it by 2015 in America," he said.
"There are 33 million Americans who are 'hunger insecure,'" he said. "Being 'hunger insecure' means there is not sufficient food to feed an individual in acceptable means per monthly allocation."
The Jewish community should be concerned about hunger in the world today, Schockman said.
"In the Jewish community, we're not far removed from the general community in having many of our hungry seniors (and) new immigrant populations access the emergency food system, and also looking for kosher products throughout."
MAZON currently works with roughly 1,000 syn-agogues throughout the country and has a donor base of 85,000 individuals. The synagogues are known as partners and work to collect money, which is then sent to the organization.
In the Valley, those partners include Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler, Temple Solel in Paradise Valley, Temple Chai in Phoenix, Har Zion Congregation in Scottsdale, Temple Kol Ami in Scottsdale, Temple Emanuel in Tempe, and Temple Beth Shalom in Sun City.
The organization's work to end hunger nationwide is done primarily by giving grants to charities, from money collected by partners.
The two current grantees in Arizona include the Assoc-iation of Arizona Food Banks, which has received $230,000 in grant money since 1993, and the Jewish Family & Children's Service of Southern Arizona, which has received $45,000 in grant money since 1997.
Concerning the effect of hunger on politics today, and specifically the upcom- ing presidential election, Schockman said, "We know from the polling that we have done in the anti-hunger movement that voters will vote for you more likely because they see you as a compassionate individual.
"It is a political issue, it is a Republican and a Democratic issue ... That to me is a winnable issue politically," he added.
"We have to challenge people to rise to a higher level on both parties. Whatever party we can talk to and talk intelligently to, and talk effectively to, that is the party that Jews will vote for."
Contact the writer here
|
|
