Dig deeper because ‘more needs to be done’
For Eric Cooper, as for most of us, Thanksgiving was a lot different this year. The CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank usually hosts his mother, his five children and siblings who fly in from around the country.
“This Thanksgiving,” he said, “nobody came.”
The family agreed to postpone the gathering — until vaccines have had a chance to protect us from COVID-19, or until the economy has recovered, or perhaps until demand for food bank assistance has returned to prepandemic levels.
Before the coronavirus struck, the nonprofit served 60,000 people a week. Now, the number is 120,000.
Cooper always works on Thanksgiving. This year, he started the day by joining the food bank's annual Turkey Trot, which was held virtually. Participants ran or walked in their neighborhoods and in parks rather than gathering downtown at H-E-B's headquarters.
The day after Thanksgiving, the nonprofit reported on Twitter that it was in “the home stretch of our annual #Food4SA campaign. Please help us and our partners reach our goal of collecting 2 million pounds of food in November. Each $1 you contribute equals 10 lbs of food that we can distribute to our neighbors in need.”
Fundraising will continue with #GivingTuesday. Held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, it has become a global outpouring of generosity that aids nonprofits of all kinds.
The food bank typically collects several hundred thousand dollars, Cooper said. He hopes to raise at least that much Tuesday.
Still, Cooper worries about compassion fatigue if the charity asks for too much too often. “Will our city say, ‘We just gave?' ” I'm betting they won't.
The numbers tell it all. A Washington Post analysis of federal data found more Americans are going hungry today than at any point since 1998. With the federal government's pandemic relief programs set to expire at year's end, nearly one American in eight, or about 26 million adults, said they didn't have enough to eat in the past week.
In households with children, more than one in six didn't have enough food.
After Giving Tuesday, several cultural and religious holidays will remind San Antonians of their own blessings in a city where more than 140,000 people have filed for unemployment and nearly 40,000 households have applied for city housing assistance.
During Hanukkah, the more fortunate among us will remember they still can pay for rent, utilities and even cable TV.
At Christmas, they'll remember they still have their health.
For Kwanzaa, they'll remember they still have jobs, and that some are lucky enough to do them from home.
They'll open their hearts and their wallets.
“I hope San Antonio continues to be mindful of those who are without, who don't have the basic things like food,” Cooper said.
He sounded a bit unsure, but only momentarily. Then he rattled off names of generous corporations. He mentioned USAA, Valero Energy, H-E-B and Whataburger, and great philanthropists such as Harvey E. Najim. He begged forgiveness for leaving some out.
Cooper thanked ordinary San Antonians. Those who have the least give the most, he said.
When 10,000 vehicles lined up at a food bank giveaway a week after Good Friday, San Antonio Express-News photographer William Luther captured the scene in an aerial shot that became a powerful visual emblem of desperation. It went viral. Donations flowed in, and the National Guard helped distribute food.
The Guard has been deactivated, and some federal food aid will run out in December, Cooper said. “I worry that we won't be able to meet the need.”
When demand exceeds what's in its warehouse, the food bank will hand out pasta but no tomato sauce, or peanut butter without jelly.
At an Alamodome food giveaway, Cooper walked the line of cars to talk to people and hear what they were facing.
He remembers an older couple in a beat-up truck. The cheerful woman — “an abuela,” he said — asked why he was all dressed up.
Cooper was wearing a tie because he was headed to a board meeting afterward.
“What would you like them to know?” he asked.
The husband had been looking at Cooper, but then he dropped his head.
“He was wearing a mask, but I could see his eyes starting to well up. ‘It's hard,' he said. ‘It's so hard.' I think that captured what this crisis is — it's just hard.” It's desperation.
“More needs to be done,” Cooper said. “More has to be done.”
So, after you've taken advantage of Black Friday bargains and put up your decorations, do more.
Because more has to be done.