why don't this citizens ask Oprah, Gates, Warren Buffett, and all these movie stars that are always helping people from other countries, God knows they are very generous outside the USA.

Also why do they have so many children? if they cannot afford 1 do not have 3 and four. Do we have to thanks the politicians that voted for global open markets for the lack of employment in this country? why would the big corporations pay a usa citizen 10 dollars an hour (which still low) to 22 cents an hour to someone in china. Greedy bastards want to make it all.

I see so many people with money go to africa to adopt childrens and I allways ask why they don't adopt here in USA. And I never show them adopt a white boy, is allways black. why they do that? looks likes they want to show the world that are not racist and they care about poor people. For the first time I am seen white people help white people. I am in sock. I finaly see people care and help the need in white community. Shame in this reach people like Bill Gates that spend billions around the world whem they should do that here in USA. We, the people and the government are spend billions around the world and forget that we have lots of people here that need help. God bless America.

I am moved by the courage and resilience of the wonderful individuals, families, and surviving community that have been aired by NBC this evening. I believe Americans are the most outreaching tender-hearted people on our planet. Certainly we can pitch in according to our means. Please let me know how to forward a small donation.

Thank you NBC for your initiatives.

We are not to question the size of the family, it is a matter of helping those who are in need. "Love" is caring for one another. For those who can help, please share your blessings! J+M

Could you please forward to me the Nash Family address? I will help that way!

I donate my fair share and help people but some of the people they talked to a ridiculous. The women who worked in the bakery... she makes more a month then I do with all her income. 200 per week in wages 130 in child support and 30 a week in food stamps. So why do they live in a camper with no water? I am not trying to be mean but I just dont get it. Some of the other stories are worse and I understand why they are hurting but we all need to consider why some people are in the situations they are, "Life is what you make it!"

Maybe the people living in the camper should sell his fat gold chain. Use the money to buy a bus ticket to a city where there are jobs. Just a thought. I guess it is easier to sit on your ass, complain about no jobs while standing in a food pantry line, and getting mad that the government is not doing more to provide for the masses of poor decision makers with misplaced priorities. WTF!!!

twright1973 I agreee w/you. I noticed that gold chain & all of his duds seemed pretty nice to me. Also one of the poor gals living in that cabin w/10 others was smoking cigarettes Sorry but I couldnt feel the sympathy for any of them.

More these to be done for the working poor. I was a single parent of 3. Worked 40hrs a week. 1 father that did provide support but I still had to use payday loans to get by. Didnt qualify for any handouts. always paid my bills, usually late but paid them. Also noticed the pepsi cans. Gosh all my kids drank was koolaid.

The people on this show appeared to have made a lifestyle choice - lazy.

Why arent they gardening for vegetables?

I watched the Dateline episode with Ann Curry highlighting the poor in South East Ohio and I was appalled by the Socialist slant that only NBC can give. "We are poor -- oh so poor, so Mr. Government please give to us."

I grew up in South East Ohio in Meigs County which is just south of Athens, Ohio. We didn't have indoor plumbing, no car, and didn't have much in the way of money, just as most of our townspeople had much of nothing. Three days after graduating high school, I left there in 1963 to make a better life for myself and my future family. I have been back on many occasions only to see nothing has changed over the decades.

Anyone who knows the area will say it was poor yesterday, ten years ago, and one hundred years ago. It has always been poor and always will be poor. If a person living there doesn't want to be poor, move out.

I have seen the poor in developing countries and those people on the episode don't know what poor is. Most of the heifers on the episode look like they should eat less. A person doesn't get twice the size of a normal person by going without food.

And I saw the kids drinking Pepsi. Soda pop is not cheap. Never had it growing up and still don't buy it because it is too pricey. And there was the young lady sitting with Ann Curry smoking a cigarette. At $50.00 a carton that young lady ain't that poor she can't afford to smoke.

I love the way Ann Curry couched her words about one of the young girls -- "With dreams of marriage and having children, she left school in the 10th grade." That is a strange twist to say the girl slept around, got knocked up and had to quite school.

And the other one living with her three kids in a van. She is trying to get child support from her kids' fathers. Notice the plural in father(s). That is another one, as we used to say, doesn't have the sense God gave a goose.

Back in my time --- Yep I think many people of today could learn a few things about how to conduct themselves from "back in my time" --- there was not a single girl who got pregnant while in school. And all except one student in our surrounding communities graduated from high school and he was mentally disabled. My friend's youngest brother had a tough time making it through school, but his mother promised if he didn't graduate she would beat the hell out of him. He did graduate high school at the age of 21.

In 1974 the unemployment rate in Meigs County was at 25%. Ann Curry made the remark that the unemployment was at 20%, as if to say how bad it is. By my calculations, the unemployment rate has improved by 5% since 1974, but that would not have made for sensational entertainment, now would it?

Clothes piled up in the hallway so high the camera crew could hardly make their way. It doesn't take money to give the kids chores to clean the house. It only takes a little pride.

I could go on and on, but enough is enough.

Give a person a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime. And the ones who don't want to fish -- go hungry.

Regards,

Retired in Central Florida

I was amazed by the 'lack of compassion' from the retired person in Florida. Must be great to

not give back to a community that has struggled for decades. Just because you have 'made it'

does not mean that others have had the same opportunity to leave. I also salute this person for never

made a mistake in his life.

I think the majority of the people on the show would work if the jobs were there. Where this person

sees Socialism, I see the need for support services that would get the people back on their feet.

Enjoy your golf in Florida. America does not need your condescending, arrogant comments.

As a once single Mom of 4 children, I would have given up cigarettes to feed my babies. You can buy beans and potatoes with the money you spend on cigarettes. And before I allowed an innocent child to be hungry or unsafe I would place them in a care facility until I was able to care for them...The children will not remember the safe times or good times, they will remember the bad times and it will affect their adult lives. Your needs as an adult should not come before your children.....I understand the stress, been there, but I do not understand having cigarettes and living in filth because you are poor. We were clean, poor and had self respect. Clean up your living area. We (Americans) do not owe you a clean place to live. You owe that to yourself and if you cannot provide that to your babies, admit it and seek help for the sake of your children. I cannot help anyone that has the money to smoke and no money for food or shelter. Grow up and the helping hand is on the end of your arm.....Being poor is not a disease, it is not a shame to be poor but it is a shame to blame other people for your problems. I loaded up my children and moved to someplace I could get work. You can too.

I agree with so many of the comments, some of which I also made. Money for cigaretts, 3 children at 21, kids drinking soda, the gold chain, etc. However, it's not the kids fault and giving kids up that love their mother I don't think is the answer. I also don't agree that the government is the answer to everyones problems. What I can't understand is the Hollywood crowd that is always there to raise money for other countries doesn't do something for the starving children in this country and not have the funds be distributed by the government. I think the money should be used to purchase food and hygiene products and stocked at food pantries across the country. I also think turning off electric and water to peoples homes that are struggling is an outrage. Some money should be used for this purpose. I know I don't have all the answers but something needs to be done.

On another note, which I'm sure people won't agree with, is all this media attention to Chelsea Clinton's wedding at a cost estimated at 2 million dollars. I know it's the Clinton's money and they can do whatever they want for their daughter, but do the struggling americans really need to hear about that during these times. I really do wish her well and the Clinton's did a wonderful job bringing up their only child but the media needs to stop reporting on this outrageous money being spent on a wedding.

Frank-2066616 must be an avid liberal-media viewer, for only that type of person would jump to such absurd conclusions without knowing any of the facts.

First of all, the region is called Appalachia. It is cut off from the rest of our great country by mountains and narrow roads that make commerce traffic into the area next to impossible. The people of Appalachia have always been poor and will continue to be poor. Whatever jobs that have been there are mostly gone due to environmentalists and our government's intrusive regulations. Does the clean coal act ring a bell?

Give back to the community? If you mean paying my taxes regularly so the Feds can redistribute what I have worked for to give to those who don't work? I like most Americans have given dearly over my lifetime and I resent it.

Just because I have made it? Again it is clear that you shoot your mouth off without knowing any of the facts. I started at the age of 10 working in the Meigs County farms for 25 cents an hour. The next year I made 50 cents an hour and did so until I was 18 and moved out of the area. My first "real" job paid $1.73 an hour. I did make mistakes along the way but I struggled through them. I started a family before I was financially ready. I held down a full time job and two part time jobs working 7 days a week so my wife could stay home and raise our kids.

I finally got a better job with a major international company and was loyal to that company for over 42 years. Like a good citizen, over those years I put as much as I could into the retirement fund. And without notice the company went bankrupt along with all my money in the retirement funds. I get nothing from pension. At the time in my life when I should be fully retired, I struggle with "getting by" on my Social Security income along with whatever odd jobs I can pick up to pay for daily living.

It is clear that you know nothing about Florida and the people who live here. Not every one who lives in Florida is on Easy Street and plays golf. I don't play golf, never have, and never will. Too expensive for my budget.

You think the majority of the people on the show would work if the jobs were there. News flash for you... There are not enough jobs to go around in that area, never have been, never will be. And the majority of people there would rather not work. I know. I lived there.

You say, "Where this person sees Socialism, I see the need for support services that would get the people back on their feet." You had better study up on the meaning of Socialism. Get people back on their feet? To do what? If they continue to live in that distressed area they will always need a hand-out.

You are right... America does not need my condescending, arrogant comments. It needs a good boot in the butt and taught responsibility and self reliance. How about that for the American Way?

Regards,
Struggling in Florida

it is such small thing to have empathy for people who do not. Most of these people worked when work was available. I thank God I live in an are of the country where I can find some kind of work at any given time. Maybe not what I trained for or earning big bucks but I could feed & shelter myself. These people need to be given a 'hand up' instead criticism. We need to try to help the youth to become successful in fields that their families could not even fathom. I am 63 years old, have no medical insurance but I have planned for a future with less. I could not even imagine having to raise my kids like these people are trying to do and encourage them to strive for a better future for themselves.

When you focus on petty things like a necklace (I have one just like that, I bought it for $8), a manicure, cigarettes, etc. you are negating the truly harsh realities that these people endure every day. In white suburbia a bath is taken in our home, not across the road at a neighbor's house, we don't feel hopeless enough to reason that we are worth more to our kids dead than alive, we don't live 14 people to a house, and our teachers, community, and families encourage every child to do what they have a passion for. Sometimes the lionshare of that responsibility falls on the community and, especially, teachers who are not value enough by the society we live in.

Global warming, the oil spill, AND lack of good, fundamental education and incentives are before us everyday. Why do we feel so little compassion, or drive to make better the lot of our peers, our countrymen?

I saw the show and oh my goodness it touched my heart. It pulled at my heart strings to see the children living in filth, in a van, without running water, and without food at times. I salute the lady that leads the Friends & Neighbors food pantry for she has shown what compassion is. I am realistic however in knowing that most of those adults made stupid chioces and decisions that they now have to live with. The young girl with the 3 kids living in a car was just ridiculous. She should have known after the first one that it was going to be a challenge and instead of using protection after her first one she just kept having more. I can only see more children in her future because of selfish choices she is making. If you can barely feed yourself why have any children? Is it my job to work and pay taxes so that these people can keep procreating and in turn my taxes keep supporting them? Why don't they work for their welfare checks? Why don't they learn a trade? I didn't father those kids so why do I have to support them?

As for the 14 people in the house they should have been ashamed to show off their home. Cleanliness doesn't require having money. How could children be allowed to live in that filth? Some of those adults looked like they never went an hour without food, much less a day. If you have money for cigarettes and soda then you have money for food.

We have become a people willing to settle for less because the government or someone will eventually help. People that used to dream big now just sit on their asses and expect handouts. Why? Well let's look at a president that keeps extending unemployment instead of telling the american people to go get a job. Someone out there is hiring, but why work when you can continue to abuse the system and collect my taxes? Welfare needs to be a two year program where everyone in the family that is 18 or older has to go to school and learn a trade. If you don't want to learn a trade then you don't get any assistance. Mothers with children in the meantime should get free childcare so they can attend school. All men should have to support their chilldren or go to jail. If you never worked a day in your life then you should not get any social security either. Want medicaid, work for it. Want food stamps, work for it. Want housing, work for it. If women on assistance don't make it a priority for their kid's to attend school then they don't get assistance. After the two years they should be cut off from assistance and made to support themselves. Once girls reach puberty they should be taken to the doctor and given a birth control shot every 3 months so that we don't have these young ladies having babies like it's a style.

If you can't feed them, don't breed them.

STOP giving our tax dollars to other countries and help our own people. I have yet to hear ONE politician propose this. Why not? Let's see some investigative reporting on that. Check out the UN-United Nations site on how many billions of dollars we give to Muslim countries who vote against the US 90% of the time. How about putting those billions into social securitity. There is another investigative report that is ignored by the liberal democrat news media. You Ms. Curry are like the rest of the reporters. You look for the stories you can "sensationalize" and ignore the really big issues that are driving the USA to join the ranks of third world countries!

I am surprised by the lack of compasion for the people in the show by the comments that I have read. By the grace of God "those" people could be any of us. Life can change overnite. If we can spend 300 Billion for our on going wars I would think there could be money for our poor.

Struggling -- Just because you could not make a living in Appalachia does not mean that others cannot.  Obviously, you have not been back to the region in a very, very long time, or you would not say that Southeast Ohio is "cut off from the rest of our great country by mountains and narrow roads that make commerce traffic into the area next to impossible."  Ohio tax dollars have built a major four-lane highway (the Appalachian Highway) that passes through the area and on to Cincinnati.  There is also an excellent four-lane highway running to Columbus, the state capital.  There are many people here who have good jobs, and what is really needed is more business and industry willing to invest in the area by building here.  Unfortunately, your own ignorant remarks, coupled with this ridiculously biased story by Dateline, which serves only to perpetuate the myth that all Appalachians are lazy hillbillies, will probably deter companies from coming here.  Thanks for nothing, NBC!