[izbnso]

Far be it from me to pontificate or be long winded, but here I go:

You have several issues going on here.

First, you must have a marvelous heart to care enough to fill a void in the lives of these children. That being said you do need to protect yourself. Not legally, but emotionally and financially. I speak from experience from both sides of the economic fence.

My first husband died when I was 22. There was no life insurance, I didn’t have much in the way of marketable skills and I was the only one to care for my then 2-year-old daughter. I took what I could get for her from whoever was willing to give it. I’m sure that there were people who felt like I asked too much too often. However, I only ever asked when it was for her, I did without food frequently so that she could have what she needed. (Please do not get me started on government assistance because I could not even get on a waiting list for subsidized child care or housing assistance and the food stamp office told me I was lying about how broke I was. WIC is the only government program I was able to get and even that didn’t last long.) The things I did to keep the utilities on, the rent paid and food on the table during my poverty stricken days would make you laugh, cry and maybe even curl your toes. (I took in sewing work from alterations to custom stripper clothes, read tarot cards, waited tables and cleaned houses, and on a good day I was still $20 in the hole.)

There is nothing in this world as horrible as not being able to feed your child. And I can understand a mother leaving her child at your home for dinnertime so that she is sure they are fed. However, at the end of the day you have your own family to worry about. Be wary of those who are looking for a hand out instead of a hand up. Since gaining financial stability I have always tried to help whom I can when I can, but there have been those who have done nothing but take advantage and this can be both financially and emotionally draining. Leaving you sucked dry and no longer able or willing to help those who would need the help and appreciate it.

Then there is the over arching and complicated issue as to why these children do not have access to the kinds of and the amount of food that they need. For those who have never been destitute, it can be difficult to understand. When your food budget is severely limited or your cash flow is small and weekly it changes how you shop for groceries. Anyone in the food industry will tell you that with the right supplies you can turn out delicious and nutritious meals at a fairly low cost per plate. The initial investment to stock the pantry is the expensive part. With not enough funding for the initial investment you have to buy in smaller and more expensive quantities that do not last as long and variety isn’t even an option. The same is true for household food budgets. I would also put money on the fact that these low income working mothers are exhausted at the end of the day and pre-packaged foods with little nutritional value are staples in there home. Been there done that myself. Often it is a vicious Catch-22 (damned if you do damned if you don’t) that leads to not enough food let alone the right kinds of food.

Depending on school lunch programs for good nutrition is laughable and an entirely different rant.

It is a bitter irony that fresh, healthy and well prepared is in fashion right now and that sometimes means that it is more expensive because it is chic. Leaving those who need it the most stuck, all to often, with nutritional garbage. And if the children are malnourished the parents probably are as well. Nutrition isn’t just about healthy bones and muscles. Poor nutrition leads to emotional and mental instability as well as physical problems. All this compounded with the stress of economic hardship is a recipe for disaster. Timely and helpful intervention can make a big difference in the lives of low-income families. (Emphasis on timely and helpful.)

Moving on to the educational aspect: So many people today simply do not know how to cook, let alone how to prepare a nutritionally sound meal on a stark budget. Our public schools eschew home economics in favor of computer literacy. I’m all for high tech education but if your neurons aren’t firing right because you live off of pizza rolls and microwave popcorn (no disrespect to two of my favorite guilty pleasures) the zenith of your computer skills will revolve around Super Mario Brothers as opposed to spread sheets.

Back to the bitter irony: I would have loved to have been able to turn out the kinds of yummy (and yes cost effective and nutritious) breads that you are contemplating for these lucky children in your care when I was down and out. I just didn’t know how and couldn’t afford the supplies for trial and error, let alone a cooking class. Well to do people can afford to take a class on artisan baking and then usually never put their knowledge to use. They can afford to pay top dollar at a boutique bakery.
All of my self taught pastry skills come out of the fact that my current husband earns a good living and I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home to raise my brood (five children now) and afford the tools (including books and internet access) and a never ending flow of butter, flour and sugar until I got it right. In fact, I have taught cake decorating at a Community College (through a continuing education program) to scores of upper-middle class students who ended up with skills and knowledge but still called me and commissioned cakes rather than make it themselves.

A friend of mine’s stepmother makes a living teaching low-income single mothers how to prepare nutritional meals on a budget. Having eaten in her home I am a little surprised that she is qualified to do so, but the government gives her a check nonetheless. She is responsible for recruiting her own students and apparently goes for the “fish in a barrel” recruitment method and most of her students are serving time.

It is entirely possible that you could expand the scope of your mission to nourish the underprivileged and benefit your own family financially by investigating this concept. You might look into writing your own grant to the local, state and federal agencies. Just an idea. I know of a lady who has basically created her own job by writing grants to teach pottery to low-income children. Her grants get approved based on two points: first it benefits low-income children and second pottery is considered an indigenous art form (Native American) so there is grant money aplenty.

You might not need a full time job, but you might be able to create a profitable for you sideline that could literally change the lives of the people you reach. The beauty of it is that if you taught these mothers how to feed their families the impact you would make could be felt for generations.

Then there are the children in your care. Just feeding them in the manner that you have discussed will change their lives. The initial change will be in their physical and emotional health. Long range, they will have experienced good nutritional food and therefore will develop good nutritional habits. Kudos to you. You are also nourishing their souls. A well-fed child feels loved. Need I say more? Depending on their ages you might even be able to impart some of your skill to them.

Regardless of my level of financial security now, I still have to feed a family of seven and money is not available to me in infinite quantities. Easy, frugal and nutritionally perfect is the incredible edible egg. A chicken egg contains all the daily nutrition you need save Vitamin C. My kids could eat their weight in scrambled eggs and consider it a treat when we do “breakfast for dinner”. My six year old actually does the “happy dance” and proclaims that it must be “opposite day” for such a fabulous meal to have come his way. Bacon is not so cheap so we don’t always serve it but I buy eggs by the crate and homemade waffles and pancakes abound and when I’m feeling particularly fancy crepes or cheese blintzes.

Anybody else have any cost effective ideas for instant implementation?

In closing (yes I’m almost there) I have a basic food philosophy that sounds silly but sums up why I do what I do. The way I look at it I’m saving the world one cookie at a time. I’ll explain: a beautiful and tasty pastry not only feeds the stomach, it has the capacity to uplift the spirit. A hand-decorated cookie can change someone’s day, make a child feel special or inspire the recipient to a never-ending list of things. It’s the ripple effect. It’s karma. I might not be able to slay all the dragons, right all the wrongs or make the world safe for every living creature, but I can make a difference one cookie at a time. And it seems that you can do it one whole grain peanut butter icing cinnamon roll at a time.

I wish you success.