Joy Miller

In 1968, in his last Sunday sermon at Washington National Cathedral, Dr. King retold the parable of the rich man, Dives, and the poor man, Lazarus, and reminded us that, "a man went to hell because he didn't see the poor."

"And this could happen to America, the richest nation in the world," he warned.

"There is nothing new about poverty," he said. "What is new is that we now have the means and the know-how to lift every child out of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will!"

So as we mark another anniversary of Dr. King's death, we should also remember how fortunate each and everyone of us is.

2008 marks the 40th anniversary of his Poor People's Campaign.

The Poor People's Campaign challenged our nation to end the poverty afflicting millions of Americans of all races and confront the entrenched triple evils of racism, excessive materialism (poverty) and militarism that threaten our nation and world.

In this rich nation of ours, in 2008, there are 36.5 million Americans still living in poverty, including nearly 13 million children. There are 47 million people in America who have no health coverage, and 9.4 million of those are children.

I was fortunate enough to make a trip with the Image Masters crew to Biloxi, MS to document how this amazing community outreach program has made such an impact in post-Katrina Mississippi.

They help low-income and homeless families with ANYTHING they need, often employees were using their personal monies. I saw a woman come by to see if they could help her pay her $34 electic bill because she didn't have the means to pay it, a deaf man that stops by to pick up newly donated clothes because people keep breaking in to his FEMA trailer and stealing things at night since they know he's deaf, a woman so grateful to have her own dishes again in an apartment that they found for her.

So if you have a roof over your head, peel a few off the bankroll and donate to this worthy cause.

Even better, if you find yourself playing one of the Biloxi Casino's events, call and ask if they need a volunteer for a day - very humbling to see what these people do every day.

www.backbaymission.com
Email: backbay@datasync.com

Back Bay Mission is located at
1012 Division St
Biloxi, MS 39530