The 2022 Walk for Hunger takes place on May 1! Across the Commonwealth, advocates for the anti-hunger cause walk twenty miles to raise money and awareness for the disturbingly prevalent problem of food insecurity in Massachusetts—here, hunger affects one in seven residents.

The annual Walk for Hunger is led by Project Bread, the largest anti-hunger nonprofit in Massachusetts, and generates funds to assist hungry people across the state. Project Bread directly provides residents with access to food, helps residents navigate existing federal nutrition programs, and much more.

The 2022 Walk marks the tenth year that I fundraise and walk in memory of my sister, Shaira, who died by suicide in 2012. Shaira was thoughtful, compassionate, and generous.

I only wish her kindness extended to herself. I wish she treated herself as well as she treated other people. I've been thinking a lot about how I will balance the public interest with my private interests in my future career. I see the immorality in being too selfish, but I see the danger in being too selfless.

We are all individuals with private interests as well as members of the collective who share the public interest. Social values often overlap with personal values. In view of this dual citizenship, I don’t think that the public and private interests present a zero-sum problem, but rather a lifelong balancing act. I strive to restrain my self-advocacy with temperance and my generosity with boundaries.

Fortifying the strength and health of locals who cannot provide for themselves benefits us as individuals by upgrading the community we live in. Chronic hunger and malnourishment impact our ability to learn, work, and break the cycle of poverty. Anti-hunger work not only has critical, short-term impacts—research shows that the long-term impacts of nutrition programs include improved health and finances! 

Project Bread emphasizes that the opposite of hungry isn’t full—it’s healthy. Please consider supporting this essential work by donating to my Walk and sharing the message!

 “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”