Countdown

 My "Mimi Camp" I hold for my grandchildren starts on Monday and I spent hours and hours straightening out the house and more hours out shopping for supplies. 

I have been busy sorting and filling boxes for planned activities and checking off lists and writing new lists.

But this is something I noticed today.  

One activity (because I am so blessed and my grandchildren are all so blessed) is going to be a service project.  I found a social media person who does something called "Dollar Tree Dinners". She develops meals/recipes using groceries from the Dollar Tree and creates a low cost dinner from the products. 

I know this isn't the healthiest way to eat, but I am often in contact with a population that has no access to transportation and we all know that dollar stores are everywhere. I also printed the recipes which are like a shopping list so they could recreate the meals on their own. 

I decided we would put together dinner bags for area "Blessing Boxes". These are free standing cupboards in my community, usually in front of a church, that stocks canned goods, etc for the taking. 

Each meal has maybe 5 items and in my head I was thinking $5.  Then I remembered Dollar Tree raised their prices to $1.25.  And when I went to the Dollar Tree, they are resetting and going up to $1.50.  

Now I can afford the $1.50 per item. But I had a budget and I was fuming - bags will cost 50% more to make.  

Then I thought about it.  This means the person with a limited income, possibly food stamps, is now looking at a 50% increase in food costs.  That is huge. If you were a single mother struggling to feed a family, especially teenagers, this would be devastating.  

I don't go out shopping much. And today I had a 2 page list of miscellaneous items like canned goods, squirt guns, modge podge, and Mentos mints to make volcanos. A list that took me to one end and the other end of three different stores.  And I noticed the prices.  Prices are up. Way up.  Up on cheap plastic squirt guns, up on craft supplies, up on paper products. And especially up on food.  Two of the stores were actually raising prices on items while I was there.  

I am still thinking about how people are going to feed their families with rising food costs and lower food assistance.  And it makes me very sad.