THE SILENT EMERGENCY OF UNCARING TIMES
We must not normalize unnecessary human suffering
In 1989 I founded an organization called Project Angel Food in Los Angeles. We started it in order to provide meals to homebound AIDS patients dealing with the ravages of HIV/AIDS.
All these years later the organization is still thriving, having now served over sixteen million meals to people who otherwise could not provide food for themselves. And on Wednesday, I was in Los Angeles to celebrate the success of a $50M capital campaign to build a new, bigger building with a kitchen to serve a million more meals than we can currently provide.
Celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Frances Fisher were on hand for the ceremony. There was much acknowledgement, all of it appropriate of course, for the many who had contributed to the campaign. The generosity shown Project Angel Food by the people of Los Angeles has been and continues to be an extraordinary gift to the city. Generations of organizational and civic leadership have much to be proud of.
But as much as my heart was full of pride and satisfaction at the success of the organization, I also felt great sadness. For it is hardly good news that an organization like this has to expand its work. That means there is too much work to do! Today, Project Angel Food feeds more than those afflicted by AIDS or cancer; it feeds anyone homebound with a critical condition and unable to provide food for themselves in the Los Angeles area. I think we have to ask ourselves why so many people - and there are millions of them throughout America - desperately need the services that organizations like Project Angel Food provide.
The AIDS epidemic was what is called a “screaming emergency;” current clients of Project Angel Food are victims of what’s called a “silent emergency.” They are not afflicted by an epidemic of a particular disease; they’re afflicted by the tenor of the times in which we live. They are afflicted by the selfishness of a system that doesn’t care enough to have provided them with universal healthcare to treat their illness, access to healthy food which would have helped prevent it, or enough economic opportunity to absorb their misfortune.
I am Project Angel Food’s biggest champion, of course. I know very well the importance of non-profit activism, and I have a resume filled with it. But I have also come to realize that no amount of private charity can compensate for a basic lack of social justice. Private charity should and must step up, but we should not be asked to shoulder the burden of bad public policy. And make no mistake about it, governmental inaction has a lot to do with why so many people need the services of an organization like this one.
As Project Angel Food’s founder, my hope has always been that our services would one day no longer be needed. And that is still my goal. But it is no longer just my goal as the founder of that organization; it is my goal as a candidate for President of the United States. From universal health care; to food safety and proactive efforts to create a healthier America; to hunger and poverty eradication, my greatest hope for my administration is to radically diminish the number of clients who need such services.
I made a pledge when we started Project Angel Food: we would show up with love and make a difference in the lives of people in need. And we did that. Today, I make that same pledge: to show up with love for the people of the United States.
And with your help, I will do that. The amelioration of unnecessary suffering is a calling of the soul.
We are all called to care for each other, although some seem to be more committed than others, in fact given the chaos in the world, it almost seems that very few heed the call. Certainly it's evident in the people elected and selected to serve for the greatest good of the people, who spend so much time in silly theatrics, accusations, wasting tax dollars and continuing to ignore the cries of the unhoused, uninsured, and too many more to count. We are to have mercy with those who cause injury, to forgive them and yet, we cry out for mercy on behalf of a hurting nation and world. Marianne, you lead us with love and courage, gives us so much hope. Thank you from the depths of our hearts.
... and the cry went out, throughout the land. Dear Ms Williamson, In a country such as mine; just to the North of yours, this message rings true as well. Universal health-care without an adequate population of health-care professionals is also peril~izing. A well crafted and an all inclusive health-care system must be well run with only the people's welfare as motivation. If it is not then there is nothing to boast about. We can list the countries around the globe that espouse Universal health-care and hold them up as models, and review and acknowledge there are many cracks and down right holes as it now stands. Canada and Britain spring quickly to mind as examples. Thank you for reminding us, your devoted readers, that peace through love can and has been done, and as we are One we shall continue to know this to be true. Namaste ~ Jacquie from Central BC Canada