Mrs. K, I have nothing to barter. Mrs. K, I don't have lunch money

[shraby]

If you want to know how a community is really doing, you don't have to wait for unemployment statistics. Just ask a community teacher. We have been hearing how children are moving around and moving in with Grandparents. We began scrambling in October to to meet the needs of kids of the initially few kids who suddenly started to show up dirty and rumpled ... to arrange for them to use the locker rooms in the morning to get cleaned up.

We've been seeing the signs that Main Street's kids and families are REALLY hurting for a few months, now, even in the pretty well-off, suburban communities we live in.

BUT, today took the cake for me. It was a BIG wake-up call, and I'm still crying. I have a story and Call for Action after the fold.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/12/19482/679/290/651601

A teacher who has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Well worth reading because it's a real eye-opener and a sad testimony to what Republicans have reduced our standard of living to.

[Trajan]

1. OK ... That got me ....

Damn .... It is what we all fear when we think about what could happen in a down economy ...

And to think this is just beginning, and no one knows how long it will last ....

Absolutely awful ....

[spindrifter]

2. I was talking to someone who works two jobs--

the second is at a consignment shop. She said people are coming in with just anything--lots of stuff you would hardly put in a free pile at a garage sale. They are begging that the store give them something so they can pay rent, buy food, get the kids a Christmas gift...and this is only the beginning of the hard times.

[Stellabella]

3. My teacher husband has been doing that for years.

They get the lunch list every morning, and students who owe money are blacked out. He goes and pays their debt - often it's only 40 cents or so, and they get to eat. He's been paying lunch for two kids for the whole year now. And I send treats to class whenever I can - usually some kind of cereal bar so they eat in the morning.

NO HUNGRY CHILDREN. That's our motto.

[FedUpWithIt All]

7. ...

:hug: to you and your husband.

[catnhatnh]

8. Bless you and your husband....

Rocky goes 15 bloody rounds as an underdog...
Your husband is my hero

Arnold Schwartzeneger saves the world...
Your husband is my hero

Bruce Willis saves the Earth from an asteroid...
Your husband is my hero

Because all over the hero worshipping world symbols are picked. And never do they leave skidmarks in their shorts or obsess on fading hairlines. They never fart or fail because they are godlike and save all...

But all or nothing is easy,and single small hunger is tough.Please Kiss your husband once extra for me tonight. And then tell him this...the world is a fractal,what you make it is a reflection of both the micro and macro scale of things, that he honors the best of the small things and amplifies them to expectations of a better whole.

And if that is too esoteric, then kiss him and say that someone said "Gee, what a nice guy."

[Muttocracy]

9. thank you both. nt

[Maat]

10. Thank you to you and your husband.

:hug:

[supernova]

4. Heartbreaking

Thanks for sharing.

That teacher has a heart of gold. What a wonderful soul.

[donco6]

5. Well, at least one benefit of being in a poor school district. . .

. . . ALL of the kids eat free - breakfast and lunch.

[FedUpWithIt All]

6. The dignity bags that were mentioned at the link are a wonderful idea.

Kids can live with less toys and "things" but a hit to a child's pride and self esteem can run SO DEEP.

Not being able to afford new pencils and having the teacher yell at you about it...Being afraid to lift your arms to place a book on the top shelf of a locker because you did not have deoderant...Being afraid to smile or talk because you do not have toothpaste....These things are brutal to young kids.

Please, please donate if you can.

For those who are in bad shape financially, please ask for help. There are few people who do not know what it is like to be in a similar position. Many of us just want to pay it forward. Let us.

[bertman]

11. Thank you for posting this. I needed the wake-up call. Our area has always been called

"recession-proof" but we're starting to see lots of layoffs and hurting businesses.

It is so easy to forget about the awful impact this has on the children.

Thank you to the Mrs. K's of the world.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. wow...that's a wake up call.

[southerncrone]

13. We had a wake up call at our school today.

I teach in a fairly large high school (1600). My club sponsored a toy drive w/another club; the toys were to be brought in today. We were anticipating getting quite a few toys to donate to our human services clients. Instead, we got 28 toys donated & $184.48.

Though our community is not a wealthy one, we usually do much better than this. Our school is #1 in the nation in our fund-raising magazine drive held at the beginning of the school yr. (sold over $175,000)

Now just a few months later, this.

Earlier in the week, one of our secretaries was talking about a kid who owed $17 in "borrowed" lunch money, who hadn't paid any of it back. I didn't think that much about it at the time, because we do have a fair number of moochers in our community, who try to take advantage of every "freebie" possible, even though they have enough $. I'm thinking now, that kid probably CAN'T pay it back.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Last year when I asked one of my students what he wanted for Christmas,

he said "elecricity".

[Libertyfirst]

15. Please contact a school near you.

The principal or school nurse will have a reasonably good idea about what families need help, It doesn't matter if we can't give much. Even small amounts add up and if we don't help the children why do we deserve to live.

Recently a religious leader said that on judgment day I would have to explain my vote for Obama to God. That doesn't frighten me at all. But if God should ask me why I haven't done more to feed the hungry and warm the cold, I will tremble.

[AwakeAtLast]

16. Our school system does gift tags

each gift tag equals $25. We have five schools in the district. Last year we had 300 requests divided between all schools. This year the number is 500! :wow:

Thanks for the link. The idea about dignity bags is a keeper and I'm going to steal it for my school system!