“Probably the biggest misunderstanding is they’re all homeless,” she said. “Instead, 76% are low-income elderly who worked their whole lives, are living on Social Security and are struggling.”
The newly named soup kitchen opened on St. Patrick’s Day 1982. It soon was serving an average of two dozen people,
“We thought this was a temporary fix — we never thought it would last,” Pieciak said. “Things were not good then, but they’re horrible today.”
The local influx of older patrons mirrors the situation statewide. According to “The State of Senior Hunger in America” report by the national hunger relief organization Feeding America, an estimated 8% of Vermont elders are considered “food insecure.”
“We know that inflation and the increase in food prices have hit people on fixed incomes hard,” said John Sayles, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank.
I’m pretty sure those people with the big trucks and whatnot eating at local fast food aren’t rich, they’re probably middle class and in debt up to their eyeballs. They probably can’t even afford to pay the credit card bill in full that they use to buy that fast food. In fact, I’d wager that a large percentage of them have been to multiple short term loan places since buying those ridiculous cars.
At least that’s how it is in my area. You likely won’t see actual rich people at those places: either they’re rich enough to go somewhere nicer, or they’ll make their own food in their fancy kitchens as a hobby. If they’re ordering Taco Bell in a $70k truck, they probably can’t afford the truck.