• Rising gasoline prices have severely affected the volunteer base, which serves the poor and needy. Meals on Wheels reports that 58 percent of its centers have “lost volunteers due to gas prices” and 48.3 percent reported that “increases in gas prices had forced them to eliminate meal delivery routes or consolidate meal services” • The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging reported that over 73 percent of agencies said it is more difficult to retain volunteers and over 74 percent said it is more difficult to recruit volunteers.

• In some areas, Goodwill will no longer do home pickups for donated items because gas prices are too high.

Our group of diverse representatives from African-American, civil rights, agriculture, Christian, senior citizen, veteran and consumer rights communities are linking arms to conduct a national campaign to:

• Educate the American people to the fact that this “War on the Poor” is occurring,

• Educate the news media to look behind the press releases and the political spin of some of our politicians and see the cruel impacts of these policies on the poor, and

• Educate policymakers to the real and daily impacts of policies that restrict energy supply and raise prices.

There are a few glimmers of hope, however. For example, President Bush has lifted the Executive Order on new oil and gas exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf. This is an important first step, but must be followed by specific congressional action. Billions of barrels of oil and new supplies of natural gas are available to America if we do this. We have decades of supply under our control – but we must act now.

We will not stop until we change federal policies and encourage more US energy for Americans, and better incentives for energy conservation. We are thankful that we have legislators from both parties in our campaign. Bi-partisanship is truly rare in these days.

Will you join us? Visit http://www.stopwaronpoor.org to educate yourself on the issues. Start discussions with your co-workers and friends to increase their awareness of the problem. Finally, let your congressional representatives know that you are watching how they respond to this crisis and this will greatly influence how you vote in the upcoming elections.