Hatch, Senate call for national fast

Utah's senators persuaded the U.S. Senate to call for a national day of fasting Thursday — a week before Thanksgiving feasts — to help feed the hungry.

The Senate late Monday passed by unanimous consent a resolution sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and co-sponsored by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, to declare Thursday as "Feed America Day."

It calls for Americans to skip eating two meals that day, and to donate the money they would have spent on food to a charity that feeds the hungry.

"The cupboards at emergency food pantries in Utah and elsewhere across the nation are often bare," Hatch said. "Two things in America, however, are never in short supply or out of season: American compassion and decency."

Hatch added, "I have every confidence that we can and will rise to meet this challenge over the holidays and throughout the year by giving generously to those who are hungry or have lost jobs and homes and are losing hope."

The resolution comes as a new Agriculture Department report this week said that nearly 50 million people, including about one child in four, struggled last year to get enough to eat.

Cathy Caputo Hoskins, executive director of the Salt Lake Community Action Program, said the situation is similar in Utah.

"We have never experienced the extremely high number of people who are in need of basic food to keep their families fed," she said. "The holidays are especially hard when a family is worrying about what they can put on the table to add just a little of the holiday spirit."

She added, "Utahns have always been most generous in sharing their bounty, and we hope that their giving will be even more evident this year because of the sheer numbers of people who are just trying to get by and need a helping hand."

This marks the fifth year in a row that the Senate has declared a "Feed America Day" to encourage donations for the hungry.

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