She missed coffee...

I read a story years ago from a woman who shared how she would donate to the local food drives each year. Like many, she would take from her pantry the surplus cans on her shelves and pick up a couple of extra non-perishable items on her grocery run. One year, their family fell on hard times when job loss and illness struck; and they became a family who needed the local food pantry. She commented in her story that she was so grateful to have that resource. She also shared that among things they could not afford that she missed most and was not in food bags was coffee. Their rations consisted of the same things she would donate back when they were able. Eventually, her family got through the unemployment and sick phases; and they were back on their feet. After that experience, she returned to donating annually as she’d done before but with a new perspective. And every donation she made included coffee. 

I share this because “the hungry” are sometimes those who are facing food insecurity for the first time, for just a moment in their lives. And the tide will turn. Or the government will finally reopen, and they can go back to work. 

It’s families like these, in addition to those who rely on food pantries to make ends meet each month, whose struggle becomes amplified this time of year, and now potentially compounded when government food assistance is suspended. These are families, senior citizens and working individuals in need. Christ is in every one of them. 

The good news is that there are people like you in the community who want to be Christ-like and feed the hungry. My friend, we’re up! It’s our curtain call. This is our moment to show the most vulnerable that our loving community has our arms around them.