As a former meetings/conference event planner, I worked with many a chef to prepare menus for clients to be sure they ate and ate well for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No one ever went without. One dinner that I planned consisted of over 100 meals. With travel schedules and late arrivals, not all meals were served and the banquet manager came to me and asked what I would like to do with the 15 or so meals that were still plated in the back. She asked if I would like them boxed for the guests still in attendance to bring back to their rooms. I thought that was a great idea. But then something popped in my head and I asked her "Wait. Do you think these meals could be donated to a shelter or a mission instead?" She said that her property did have an agreement with a local shelter that on a certain night of the week all food that was left from the day was donated to them, however, the night of our function was not one in the same and there was no way to find one at this hour.
Another story, is from a time that I spent in Chicago. My husband and I were walking and window shopping along Michigan Avenue. In our travels back and forth along the "Magnificent Mile", we passed a man, dirty and in ragged clothes, that was just sitting there; every day, in the same spot. He wasn't asking for money and didn't have a sign that said "help me". He was just sitting there. As I passed him throughout our trip, I noticed that when people would walk by eating something, he would look up and follow them with his eyes. On our last day, my husband and I had lunch and I asked for the other half to be boxed. As we walked back to our hotel, I handed my bag to the man on the street that everyone was ignoring. He was hungry.
Did you know that one in eight Americans receives food assistance? In 23 counties of my local area alone, 21,597,680 pounds of food are provided annually. I was shocked when I read that. Want to know where your community stands? Check here.
As you know, we just planned a wonderful 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my in-laws. The food was wonderful and we made arrangements ahead of time that we would be able to bring whatever was left over home with us. We did not however, plan on so much to come home. What did we do? We collectively decided that the first thing we should do is call a mission that feeds the homeless once a week. Below is a letter that my brother-in-law wrote to us after he and our niece brought the food to share. I asked if I could share his letter and he said yes. Here is his experience in his own words:
All,
As we discussed after the party, we ended up taking the two trays of pasta down to Pittsburgh on Thursday night to feed the homeless/poor. I wanted to write to let you know that and to let you know how amazing a night it was.
We arrived and saw that there were (I’m guessing) 70-100 people waiting for the students from Steubenville. When they arrived we introduced ourselves and explained about bringing the food. They were cool with that, but didn’t realize how important that would become. You see, this was a week when a local priest was scheduled to bring the food for them to distribute. The students had some donuts to distribute, which they did while they were waiting for the other food. The time went by and no one came bringing the other food.
I don’t think that the students realized that I also “happened” to have bowls and some to put the pasta in and some quantity of plasticware. When I pointed that out they said grace and began distributing the food. It wasn’t a lot for everyone, but everyone who wanted had some and many had seconds. With just enough bowls and silverware, the last of the pasta was eaten. God in His providence did provide. Let’s say it this way: if mom and dad hadn’t gotten married 50 years ago (and thousands of other events in between) there would have been a lot of hungry people yesterday….
Anyway, we had an amazing time. We ended up spending most of the time getting a “history lesson” from a guy named Al. Al went on and on engaging us with amazing stories and history of Pittsburgh, America and the world. He was GREAT! He went on and on with fun story and story and also did a real motivational talk about learning. It was really amazing.
Randy
When I finished reading this, I immediately looked up my local food bank to volunteer. I printed out their schedule and told my kids to look at it, pick a date and time when as a family, we would go and help prepare parcels for those in need.
I'm going to ask you to do the same.
Look at eight of your neighbors or eight people you pass in the mall or on the street. Statistically, one of them will be receiving assistance from your local food bank.
Food is a basic need that all of us require to live. In this day and age, no one should have to feel hungry. If giving my time or donating food to my local food bank will help, then that is the least I can do.
Will you join me?
Find out more from Feeding America, a great resource of information.
