“Rising grocery prices, rising fuel prices, rising home heating expenses are causing many more families across Chicago, Cook County, and beyond to make the difficult tradeoff between buying groceries or keeping the house warm,” said Jim Conwell, spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Volunteered at a near-suburban food bank several years ago. Surprised by number of our POC clients nonetheless driving Lexus-level cars and carrying designer handbags, who patronized food bank, week after week, seemingly otherwise able-bodied, wanting their groceries carried-out to their nice cars. Concierge service, sans any hint of judgment. So yes, I think scammers have cash for groceries, but know “free is free”, and use their dollars elsewhere. That said, Chicago is no longer the middle-class comfort-zone it once was. Cost of living here is high: taxes, taxes, taxes, plus substantial bump in housing costs, coupled now with post-Covid rampant… Read more »
They’re at the food pantries because they drive and pay for Lexus-level cars. Our capitalist consumer culture values bling over thrift, and, spendthriftness over frugality. So you end up with a culture of $500 a month car payments, fast food 5x a week, but no food in the fridge. I have relatives that live similar to this: I once had a relative beg me for a few hundred dollars to pay bills after xmas because he/she spent all their money buying cheap consumer gift for extended family members. I was so angry because I’ve for years told my extended family… Read more »
Last edited 4 years ago by debtsor
debtsor
4 years ago
Yet, every person visiting that food pantry, in the previous two years, wasted their stimulus checks, spent all their child tax credit advances, spent their earned income credit, all of their five figure tax refunds, spent all their extra $300 a week unemployment PUA, and now, barely a few months later, they don’t have even two nickels to rub together, and they’re back at the food pantry.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Volunteered at a near-suburban food bank several years ago. Surprised by number of our POC clients nonetheless driving Lexus-level cars and carrying designer handbags, who patronized food bank, week after week, seemingly otherwise able-bodied, wanting their groceries carried-out to their nice cars. Concierge service, sans any hint of judgment. So yes, I think scammers have cash for groceries, but know “free is free”, and use their dollars elsewhere. That said, Chicago is no longer the middle-class comfort-zone it once was. Cost of living here is high: taxes, taxes, taxes, plus substantial bump in housing costs, coupled now with post-Covid rampant… Read more »
They’re at the food pantries because they drive and pay for Lexus-level cars. Our capitalist consumer culture values bling over thrift, and, spendthriftness over frugality. So you end up with a culture of $500 a month car payments, fast food 5x a week, but no food in the fridge. I have relatives that live similar to this: I once had a relative beg me for a few hundred dollars to pay bills after xmas because he/she spent all their money buying cheap consumer gift for extended family members. I was so angry because I’ve for years told my extended family… Read more »
Yet, every person visiting that food pantry, in the previous two years, wasted their stimulus checks, spent all their child tax credit advances, spent their earned income credit, all of their five figure tax refunds, spent all their extra $300 a week unemployment PUA, and now, barely a few months later, they don’t have even two nickels to rub together, and they’re back at the food pantry.
And they’ll continue to vote Democrat election.
Every food pantry should have a corresponding financial advisor.