Laurels to Food Lion for its Food Lion Feeds program, which just celebrated its first anniversary. So far the program has donated more than 62 million meals and plans to donate 500 million in the 10-state area where it operates by 2020 — including more than 1 million this summer. The degree to which families in this country have to rely on food donations is staggering and disconcerting. More than 46 million people get food through Feeding America-affiliated food banks. Organizations have stepped up to pack backpacks with food to get disadvantaged students through the weekends during the school year. And so on. Food Lion does its part, and President Meg Ham explains why. “We believe no one should have to choose between dinner and paying rent or medicine and buying groceries, and no parent should ever have to forgo a meal for themselves to feed their child.” Amen to that. Now, how can we move from giving a man a fish to teaching him how to fish?   

Dart to the tragedies that come with summer’s increased outdoor activities, despite all good intentions. Overshadowed by the recent shark attacks off the North Carolina coast was a zip-line accident last week at Camp Cheerio that killed a 12-year-old girl. The camp’s zip line had been in use for four years, but somehow the lines became tangled last Thursday. Camp officials said the tether attached to the girl was wrapped over the zip line and snapped as it rubbed against the steel cable. An investigation is under way, and the zip line has been closed for the summer.  This accident is heart-breaking for the family of the girl, who was from Wilmington. Camp Cheerio, located in Allegheny County, is obviously hurt by this, too.

Laurels to more proof that many a news story has a Salisbury connection. Steve Bouser, editor of the Salisbury Post from 1980 to 1993, was on the beach at Oak Island with wife Brenda when people rushed to the aid of a 12-year-old Asheboro girl bitten by a shark. The photos Bouser shot of people huddled around the girl were picked up by the Associated Press and have been used around the world, including in the Salisbury Post. Bouser, now opinion page editor at the Pilot in Southern Pines, said it was like a scene from “Jaws.” As he told one reporter:  “It’s like going instantly from a heavenly scene to hellish. It’s a reminder that in the middle of all of this laid back stuff, there’s a scary world offshore. It comes as a jolt.”