Poor Kate?

I became enraged on Monday as I watched Kate Gosselin’s latest appearance on my favorite national morning news show. I should have changed the channel the moment I saw her face on the screen, but like too many other viewers, I was sucked in. Kate, the Kate in John and Kate Plus 8 that is, reported that her cheating and estranged husband John’s recent actions might leave her unable to buy food for her eight children. Immediately following the end of September, the month nationally recognition as Hunger Action Month, the star of one of the most successful and longest running reality TV shows in history, told the audience that she had been forced to move $100,000.00 from one of their joint bank accounts to guard against this threat. “That’s a lot of Happy Meals,” I thought. “How much did you transfer to secure your future salon visits to maintain that dye job and silly haircut?” OK, that was uncalled for, but as I mentioned before, I was enraged.

Don’t get me wrong. I do feel badly for this family. I am sorry that the parents’ marriage is breaking up. And I wish the kids didn’t have to be filmed every minute in order to live in that big mansion and support their parents’ celebrity lifestyles. I hope they’ll all be OK. But I’m honestly not too worried about the Gosselin family’s grocery bill. If they are truly at risk, they’re actually in very good company. A September 2009 Feeding America report showed big increases in requests to food banks across the country. 99% of food bank respondents reported a significant uptick in requests for food and 98% attributed the increase to requests from new visitors to food banks. If their TV show ceases production, which might be best for everyone involved, John and Kate will need to find other ways to support and provide for their kids. In this way, they are similar to the millions of non-celebrities who have lost their jobs and other income during this recession.

But let’s face it, one of the realities of Reality TV shows – and all TV shows for that matter – is that they don’t last forever. I would hope that after several successful years, John and Kate would have some kind of financial cushion or back-up plan in place. But who really knows? Kate repeatedly reports that her soon-to-be-ex receives and follows bad advice. It's quite possible that they did not plan to have the financial rug pulled out from under them, at least not this year. In that way, they might not be so different from most Americans, at least as far as circumstances go.

In terms of responding and taking action, however, I see some big differences. This summer, my family decided to do our small part to help others when we established the bread + butter project, which raises awareness about hunger issues and money for nonprofit food banks. While Kate Gosselin fields requests for media interviews, trying desperately to sure up the future of her TV show, Katie O’Rourke, my 12 year-old daughter, is continuing her volunteer service at a church that provides free lunches for hungry people.

I am sure that Ms. Gosselin helped lots of people during her former career as a nurse. If her star continues to fade, at least she has the skills and credentials to fall back on and could secure a job in a field that is always under-resourced. While it may be less glamorous than her current role as an embattled TV star, nursing is much more important. She will not have as much time for interviews or the Paparazzi, but that's OK. The demand will definitely decrease. TV producers don't tend to celebrate hardworking people who are struggling to feed their families and help others. Perhaps they should.

-Tom

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