Amid a Feast of Starvation, Two Morsels of Hope

Forget for a moment that the world is undergoing an economic contraction that may, in fact, be a collapse in disguise. Forget that food pantries are getting tapped beyond capacity, or that the number of hungry people in the world grew to nearly 1 billion this year.

In the spirit of the holidays, here are two wacky, completely unrepresentative incidents featuring the less fortunate getting a little seasonal lift. The BBC reports that in Milan, an estimated $550,000 of beluga caviar was given to food banks and hospices to be distributed to the poor. Its point of origin: two smugglers traveling from Poland.

And in Toronto, the chief justice of Ontario whipped up a little something for 600 poor and homeless folks in his city: “lavish servings of filet mignon with fries, green beans and bread pudding” and a crisp new $10 bill, according to the Toronto Star.