Are you hungry? Food for thought.

Are you hungry? I don't mean the yeah-I-skipped-breakfast-this-morning kind of hungry. I mean really hungry. The kind of hungry that makes your insides ache and is always nagging at you in the back of your mind. If you're reading this, most likely not. Do you know someone who is? Do you know someone who might be? Your child's classmate who seems a little too solemn most days? The single mom who is working a couple of jobs? The family down the street whose dad has had his hours cut back at work?

Our church has a food pantry that we have the pleasure of helping. It is only open on Saturday mornings, and we often serve as many as twenty families during that time. It's not a huge amount, but it's not bad for a small food pantry staffed entirely by volunteers and supplied completely by donations. Most of the families we see are not homeless, but are having to make the decision between paying the rent or mortgage and buying food. Many have jobs. Others have just lost a job.

Two Saturdays ago, we got to the pantry to find that were running really low on food. That day, I believe we served nine families. As we were leaving, we knew that if our supply did not increase that week, we would not be able to open the following Saturday. We do get donations from our local Super Target, but they haven't been able to give us quite as much as they used to, and the number of families we see is steadily increasing.

So, after that week, this is what our pantry looked like:

 

We had a lot of juice and soup, a little pasta, and not much else.

 

 

 



The Daddy Guy and I presented this issue to our care group (small group at church) and they were surprised to see that our supplies had gotten so low. Several people entrusted me with cash to go shopping, another family gave us a couple of cases of food the next day. On Friday, thanks to this group of people, we were able to take 255 pounds of food to fill the pantry.

In Wake County, NC, 15% of the population is at risk of being hungry. In children 18 years old and younger, that percentage rises to 19.3%. That's almost one out of every 5 children that may be going to bed hungry. Want to find out more? Read HERE.

So, I'm issuing a challenge. I'm challenging every small group, care group, book club, BUNCO group, Ladies Night Out, sports team, Sunday School, Scouts, homeschool co-op, whatever your group may be to meet or beat what our care group accomplished in two days. In two days, we were able to procure an extra 255 pounds of food for our food pantry. Think about what you may be able to do in the next two weeks. Can you meet or beat that? If so, send me pictures of your group, a picture of your food, and let me know what you gathered (We didn't weigh our food, we added up the ounces listed on the label, because that is what people will actually get to eat. Not the CAN.).

What do you do with your food after you've gathered it? If you don't have a connection with a food pantry, there are still lots of places that will take your donations. If you are in the Wake County area, the Raleigh Rescue Mission, Salvation Army,  and Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC will gladly accept your donations. If your kids go to a Wake County Public School, your school may have a Backpack Buddies program. This program sends ready-to-eat foods home with at-risk children during track-out or school breaks. They appreciate individually wrapped breakfast and lunch items such as: granola bars, oatmeal packets, crackers, and pop-top soups and spaghetti-o type cans.

Even if you live outside of Wake County, just Google food pantries in your area, collect your donations, and call to find out how to drop off your items.

So, do you have a group of friends you can motivate? How much food can you gather? Let me know! Send your info and photos to me at lightsburninglate@gmail.com and I'll feature all of your efforts here!

 “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” ― Edmund Burke