Bringing Hunger Out of the Shadows: A Veteran’s Story

Published On: November 11th, 2016Categories: Post, Stories of Hunger

By Patti Habeck, Executive Vice President
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin

img_4844Hunger is often hidden in the shadows. It’s there, but we just don’t see it. It may be the senior couple you sit next to at church, or the young boy your son plays soccer with. Or it may be the veteran who sacrificed so much for all of us but now struggles to provide for himself.

Today is Veteran’s Day and I can’t stop thinking about a veteran I met recently at a Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin mobile food pantry in Appleton. It was a memorable moment that took my breath away.

At one point, we had more than 175 families waiting in line to receive food. (We served well over 325 families that day.) It was about an hour into the mobile, and I had already heard the stories of many of the people who turned out. Most were expected – health problems, loss of jobs, mental health concerns, caring for babies or family members with special needs, accidents, injuries, low wages, etc. Each of these is a heartbreaking story, the kind that happens way too often, and often just feels wrong and unfair.

So when a tired looking older man wearing an Army veteran hat and using a walker passed by, I assumed his story would be one I knew. He came up to me and was already in tears by the time he began to talk. I asked him if he was a veteran, and he said yes. I thanked him for his service, and was moved by his emotion.

Tears were rolling down his face, and I reached up to wipe them from  his cheek. That’s when the unexpected happened. He reached into his pocket and handed me $50, and began to share his story. He had a tough life, and it became even harder after he left the service. During those years, he knew hunger and relied on the generosity of others more than his pride wanted to. He remembered how many people gave him help so he would have enough food to fill his stomach.

As he handed me the money, he said he didn’t have very much. But he was in a place right now where he didn’t need the help and wanted to give to others who were struggling. I thanked him and hugged him – and it took a long time for him to let go. He was so clearly connected to the reason we were doing what we were. (Maybe it was me that was having a hard time letting go?)

I don’t know his name, and I don’t know the rest of his story. But I will tell you that this gift – the $50 bill – meant infinitely more to me than much larger gifts we received the week before. It’s not that the larger gifts weren’t important, but this $50 came from someone who moved through and found his way to the other side, and now was giving very deeply of himself, trusting that we would use it to help people also find their way through. It was clear that he didn’t have much, and yet his priority was to help others.

I know people sometimes ask why we do mobile pantries in the middle of a city like Appleton. It is not as much about the people receiving food, but more about bringing the need into the open and allowing everyone the ability to see, touch and feel the faces of hunger. It’s to bring the hidden hunger out into the open. To give you the opportunity to hear the stories first hand. And to give those who pass by a chance to see what is normally hiding in the shadows. And, in this case, to allow someone to honor his own journey through hunger, and to give back and to heal. Sometimes “need” is so much more than simply a financial measure.