To many, a snack after school seems like the most basic thing in the world. But for countless kids, it’s a luxury due to their family’s financial situation.
According to the USDAin 2023, 17.9% of households with children under 18 were food insecure. As grocery prices continue to rise and jobs continue to prove difficult to find, this number is likely to increase.
One man decided he wanted to make a difference, even if it was just by providing a much-needed snack and safe space for the kids in his neighborhood.
A man ignored warnings that giving snacks to kids in his neighborhood meant they would keep showing up.
A man named Murphy, known as @murphys_law_irl on TikTokshared how he is giving back to his community by reaching out to the kids who live in his neighborhood.
“So, I had somebody tell me the other day that if I kept giving snacks to the neighborhood kids, they were gonna keep showing up at my door asking for snacks,” he said. “And I just kinda stared at them blankly for a minute before saying, ‘That is, in fact, the point.’”
As someone who was personally impacted by food insecurity as a child, the man knew that a simple snack could make a world of difference to hungry kids.
“I don’t know who had breakfast this morning,” Murphy argued. “I don’t know who’s gonna have dinner tonight. I don’t know whose parents can afford to get them a snack after school. And frankly, it’s none of my business.”
Murphy said that, although he does not know each kid’s personal situation, it’s important to him that they all feel welcomed.
“But what I do know is every single kid can show up in my garage and get a snack and a drink. No questions asked. No one gets singled out,” he said.
Murphy went on to explain that he wanted to help out in this way because he was once a child who didn’t have enough to eat.
“I myself was raised in a household where I was yelled at if I ate food in the fridge or drank milk when I wasn’t supposed to, and not because my parents were (expletive), but because money was so tight that every meal had to be meticulously planned,” he said. “And if we ate part of that meal, we may have just destroyed an entire dinner.”
“Having something like this would have been amazing for me as a kid,” he stated. “I had somebody comment that I’m becoming the adult that I needed, and I could not think of anything I’d be prouder to be.”
Thanks to TikTok others are donating to help the man feed the children in his neighborhood.
Now that Murphy’s goodwill has spread across TikTok, others are getting involved too. He shared another video that featured him restocking the fridge in his garage, where he keeps snacks and drinks for the kids.
In this video, he also revealed that he helps the kids fix their bikes when they stop by for a snack.
“We’ve got all of the stuff that the kids like to do,” he said, referring to a workstation he had set up especially for them. “They like to mess with my whittling stuff. They like to mess with the paint.”
Murphy showed off the jar of water he had, in addition to fruit snacks and peanut butter crackers.
“And then we have Capri Suns that were very kindly donated,” Murphy said, holding up an Amazon wish list gift sticker. Many other commenters asked about Murphy’s Amazon wish list and how they could contribute to the good work he was doing.
A lot of children know what it is like to go without food.
Unfortunately, many children are not strangers to feeling hungry. The organization No Kid Hungry reported that approximately 14 million American children come from “food insecure” households.
“That phrase may sound mild, but it means that those households don’t have enough food for every family member to lead a healthy life,” they said.
Some of those food-insecure children could very well be in Murphy’s neighborhood, where he is offering much more than just snacks.
He’s offering a sense of safety and security they may not be familiar with at home. That’s the meaning of a true neighbor.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.
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