Hungry KidsI spent the last few days in Denver, visiting my friend Erika Napoletano and helping her celebrate her birthday. It was not at all the wild party weekend many would expect of us Š in fact, weÕre really two geeky girls who like to hang out and talk, read and get mani-pedis.Thanks to planes, trains and automobiles, I returned home today and began settling back in. I was unpacking, doing laundry and getting random hugs from 5 year olds, when I espied the Sunday paper on the dining room table. It was impossible to miss the cover story, emblazoned with the headline ŅKids Going WithoutÓ and a picture of a darling little girl sitting at the dinner table, eating a plate of spaghetti noodles with canned white sauce and a slice of bread. I stopped what I was doing and sat down to read more.Missouri ranks fifth in the number of homes in the nation with unstable food supplies, and Kansas is twelfth. My children Š they never go hungry. As I read the article, the plight of the mom of that adorable little girl made my eyes well up with tears. She works three jobs to support her children who are 5, 7 and 12. She makes $23 per month too much to qualify for food stamps. They often donÕt eat meat, because itÕs too expensive, and many nights thereÕs not enough food left for her to fix a meal for herself, so she makes do by eating anything the kids leave behind on their plates. I imagine there are many nights she goes to bed hungry.I grew up in a poor family. I watched my mother often forego dinner when there wasnÕt quite enough food for all of us. And I remember the time we had to be on state assistance and feeling so ashamed by our poverty when I accompanied my mom to the store and she had to take out the food stamps in order to pay. She held her head high, and worked her ass off, and always managed to provide for us. And we werenÕt any different than anyone else, but we were lucky. That was a brief period in our lives, a particularly difficult time, and my parents eventually worked their way through it. But I know it wasnÕt easy.And you wonder why IÕm so ambitious? There you have it Š part of my story. Growing up poor will put a fire in your belly and inspire you to work harder, learn more and yearn for financial stability if it wasnÕt an inherent part of your childhood. But this isnÕt about me. This is about children and families going hungry. The mom in the story cried when she reflected on what she wanted life to be like one day. And said ŅI want to have pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans.Ó And that made me cry all over again, because any damn night that I want to, I can fix pork chops, or steak, or chicken, and mashed potatoes and green beans or corn and any other thing I even remotely desire. And the only thing that makes me any different than that mom is luck.  So hereÕs what IÕm going to do. IÕm going to write to that reporter and do my damndest to persuade her to connect me with that mom and her family. And if sheÕll do that, IÕm going to go through my pantry and my freezer, and IÕm going to make sure that one night Š every single week, for the next few months, that that family is going to have meat. And vegetables. And that those kids arenÕt going to have to have spaghetti and bread for dinner every night Š at least if I can help it. And that that mom is going to have plenty of food so that she can eat, too.And then IÕm going to write a check to HarvesterÕs Š the local food bank and contribute to their virtual food drive, which is really what the story was about. If you are in Kansas City and want to help, you can donate by going to feedingkckids.org. $5 buys a case of shelf stable milk and $10 buys macaroni and cheese. Or you can pay for a child to receive a food filled backpack if youÕre feeling especially generous. If youÕd like a different option, my friend Christopher Burgess is participating in the Feeding America virtual food drive and you can participate without even getting up from your chair. Every $5 you give provides 35 meals for hungry people and every dollar donated, up to $40,000 will be generously matched by LibbyÕs. Christopher alone has raised $2,500 so far in this virtual food drive, and is now marching on toward $3,000. http://help.feedingamerica.org/site/TR/VirtualFoodDrive/VirtualFoodDrive?px=2260421&pg=personal&fr_id=1130And if you donÕt live in Kansas City, thatÕs okay. I can promise you there are plenty of hungry children in your city Š you just have to open your eyes wide enough to find them. So please, the next time youÕre fixing dinner or shopping at the grocery store, take a minute to reflect on how blessed you are Š no matter what your personal financial situation is. Because, but for some strange stroke of luck, it might very well be you whoÕs struggling to find enough food to feed your kids, and not this woman who has crawled off the page of the Sunday paper and into my heart.You donÕt have to do much, but please, if you can, do something. Make that your gift to yourself this holiday season. WouldnÕt that be infinitely better than another scarf that you donÕt need or a shiny new pair of boots? I know that for me, it will be.I donÕt care what you do, but please do something. Children shouldnÕt be hungry. No way, no how. Not as long as we can roll up our collective sleeves and help.http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/11/2513579/kc-challenge-childhood-hunger.html