My husband came in this morning and gave me our latest copy of HCN and said "read this article (‘Ending Hunger')" (HCN, 1/18/10). I read about Silver City, the backpack program to end hunger and how it evolved, and just marveled at it all. "Yes" to standing at our local food bank and packing bags for our school children to have food over Christmas break; "yes" to watching our city struggle with forming its first community garden; "yes" to being "acting manager" of our local growers' market and struggling to educate our growers and our customers as to the benefits of growing food without chemicals and to buying food that is local and supporting a local economy.

I could feel the community in this article, and it came right out of the newspaper which I held, into my hands and up my arms into my heart. Thank you for all that you do to make that happen. Just like the author says, some days it all feels like too much, the all-encompassing road that stretches out in front of us as we struggle with high unemployment and a city government that is stretched beyond its capacity to function. But that very same road is filled with fellow travelers who all have stories of chipping away at isolation, marginalization, and replacing it with love of community and a vision of doing it together.

Sarah Teofanov
Farmington, New Mexico