The Real Heroes

As if we need more evidence of the economic strain local residents are under, we learned this week that the Food 4 Kids program, which provides free lunches to Lower Cape children from Harwich to Provincetown during the summer, saw a huge increase in the number of meals it distributed this season.
Run out of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Orleans, Food 4 Kids packed some 200 more lunches per day than last year, amounting to approximately 10,000 more meals than the 10-week program distributed last year. Six new sites were added this summer, but that alone is unlikely to account for the increase. As reported by other human services organizations, including the Family Pantry of Cape Cod in Harwich, more local families are having trouble putting food on the table and are turning to pantries and other food programs to help make ends meet.
It’s stunning to see such a steep increase in demand in a relatively affluent place like the Lower Cape, and makes us fear what may be happening in other, less well-off locations around the country. Make no mistake: the cost of living is going up everywhere, with food prices rising, housing costs carving more and more out of household budgets, and wages failing to keep up. It is particularly acute here on the Lower Cape, where homeownership is out of reach for most working folks and many still depend on seasonal work to remain solvent. 
Forecasts indicate that things will only be getting worse. The elimination of federal subsidies in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will raise health insurance premiums for millions of Americans. Electricity costs are rising, as is the price of gasoline (local stations posted increases of more than five cents per gallon just this week), groceries and many other consumer items reflect the full impact of the administration’s tariffs. Faith in the administration to tell the truth and reflect this reality is basically nonexistent, given the vapid toadying and lack of integrity of cabinet and other high officials. Most of us, however, will see through this deception, if only by checking what’s left in our bank accounts after paying our bills.
The volunteers who run programs like Food 4 Kids are the true heroes of this particular time in history, not the masked ICE agents kidnapping people off the streets or the ignorant officials denying science and reality (we’re looking at you, RFK Jr.). They deserve our support in helping our neighbors meet the increasing challenges of today’s reality.