“As a group, America’s poor are far from being chronically undernourished. The average consump­tion of protein, vitamins, and minerals is virtually the same for poor and middle-class children and, in most cases, is well above recommended norms. Poor children actually consume more meat than do higher-income children and have average protein intakes 100 percent above recommended levels. Most poor children today are, in fact, supernour­ished and grow up to be, on average, one inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than the GIs who stormed the beaches of Normandy in World War II.”

It’s not that hunger and poverty don’t exist -- far from it, sadly. But Rector’s research underscores the need for ordinary Americans to continue caring directly for those among them who are truly poor -- and not assume, as Scrooge once did, that being taxed is enough and that government bureaucrats are taking care of the problem.

Indeed, when you consider why true poverty exists, you realize it’s not simply a matter of pouring more money into this or that government program. “There are two main reasons that American children are poor,” Rector writes. “Their parents don’t work much, and fathers are absent from the home.” The typical poor family with children is supported by only 16 hours of work per week. If work in this family were raised to 40 hours per week, he says, nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.

As for absent fathers: Nearly two out of every three poor children live in single-parent homes. And each year, another 1.5 million children are born out of wedlock. “If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, almost three-quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty,” Rector writes. But don’t hold your breath waiting for one of the presidential hopefuls to float that solution.

“A government check may relieve hunger, but it cannot supply hope,” Ashcroft said. “It can provide temporary shelter, but it cannot offer the long-term integrity of independence.” Genuine compassion comes not simply from a checkbook, but from an outstretched hand extended to those who are, after all, fellow Americans -- and fellow children of God.