The Census Bureau released it study, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003, yesterday with the headline, "Income Stable, Poverty Up, Numbers of Americans With and Without Health Insurance Rise." Democrats are accusing the Bush administration of releasing the data all at once in August, versus in September as in earlier years, but the NY Times reports that the Census Bureau has published reports at the same time before, adding politics weren't at play and "Normally we're not criticized for bringing out data early." The facts for New York City are that 19% of NYers are poor and half a million children live in poverty (as the Daily News puts it, "27.9%, are going to bed hungry"), facts that are sad, but the schism between the rich and poor just keeps growing. The Bush administration, however, says that the numbers do not reflect the effects of tax relief implemented earlier.
We found this NY1 story about Fulton Fish Market purveyors donating fish to the homeless really great. The fish are all fresh (one purveyor says, "The sea provides so much product sometimes you cant sell it all"), and they are donated to 12 food pantries in the city. A few different agencies to donate your time or money: City Harvest, New York City Rescue Mission, and NY Cares. You can also find volunteer positions via Volunteer Match.
