American families are facing a very harsh reality check as it relates to the ongoing economic crisis from the pandemic.

In economic terms, the "V-shaped" recovery stalled out in November and the results are going to be devastating for millions of families. Here's a graph showing TOTAL EMPLOYMENT over the past four years. You can see the "V" recovery in jobs basically stopped in November...

In simple terms, there are about NINE MILLION fewer people working today than one year ago when this crisis started. And the trends are not good. New unemployment claims continue at about 700,000 EVERY WEEK, effectively offsetting any new job "gains." As a result, the country has only had a net gain of about 200,000 jobs since November. Remember, we're NINE MILLION jobs short! And each of those "jobs" represents about one other person in a family. So we are talking about 18 million or more people who right now are currently impacted by lost jobs, and millions more still recovering from a job displacement over the past year.

+ + My "reality check"

Here's the reality of what we're seeing at Mercy Chefs...

People still urgently need help. Just about every day, families line up to receive one of the food boxes and hot meals we're providing so they can be sure they have food on the table for their children.

This week, our teams are distributing food boxes at 19 more locations across the country. We're also providing hot meals and ready-to-heat meals to seniors, shut-ins and families, as well as healthcare heroes who are so grateful when they receive one of the meals you provide during their long shifts at the hospital.

With your help, Mercy Chefs will provide tens if not hundreds of thousands of meals this week alone. And I want to do more! But in reality, we need help THIS WEEK to meet the needs in front of us THIS WEEK!

Can I count on your partnership right now? Go here to help provide life-supporting meals for hurting families during this crisis, while we continue other efforts:

Thanks to friends like you, we've provided millions of meals over the past 12 months to families impacted by the pandemic. But after months of almost non-stop outreaches, the costs of continuing these efforts are mounting. Plus, we could DOUBLE or even triple our efforts if we had the funding. 

Perhaps most importantly, please continue to pray for our country and pray for the millions of families who are still struggling right now.

Thanks for your partnership, and may God bless you richly.

Gary LeBlanc, Mercy Chefs

P.S. One year after the pandemic wrecked our country, millions of lives have been so deeply affected that they won't go back to "normal" anytime soon. The need continues to increase, and our hope is to continue to reach as many people as we can through whatever means necessary. And YOU are the key! Without friends like you, we can't rent more trucks or warehouse space or hire more people, or provide delicious, hot meals. Thanks in advance for your help, and go here:

Source for chart information here.