Every Tuesday we give out boxes of food to the people of the neighborhood. The way it works is, that they have to make an appointment to receive a box.
Each week we have up to 30 appointments, each appointment representing between 1 and 8 people per household.
Each week we have the food to serve all 30 appointments and each week we have between 8 and 15 no shows. It's frustrating, because we want to help them with food. But if they don't ca
ll and then come late or don't show up at all, they forfeit their appointment and at the moment I can't even reschedule them until a month from now.
Today though, was different. Today, almost ALL of our 32 (!) appointments came, representing 80 individuals that were able to receive food today. There were only 5 no shows, which is unheard of in the history (1 year) of grocery assistance.
And on top of that... Today almost everybody was so grateful... I'm not sure you can imagine how hard it is to cheerfully hand a box of free food to someone who in return demands chicken instead of the beef in the box, refuses to take the bananas, because 'they attract bugs' or gets mad at you when they find out there's no coffee.
I really like helping people. And I really like it best on days like today... When everybody comes in, no missed appointments, no complaints, no verbal abuse (oh yes, that happens)... Just a fairly straight forward time of helping people make ends meet.
Days like today help me remember why I do what I do. Days like today make me grateful and help me continue to pray for the people of our neighborhood.
Days like today help me go through the days when I feel like a punching bag; when everyone who walks through our door seems to see something wrong with the way we serve them; when it's just not fun.
Thank you Jesus, for reminding me how much I like helping people. I learn from the best.
Each week we have up to 30 appointments, each appointment representing between 1 and 8 people per household.
Each week we have the food to serve all 30 appointments and each week we have between 8 and 15 no shows. It's frustrating, because we want to help them with food. But if they don't ca
ll and then come late or don't show up at all, they forfeit their appointment and at the moment I can't even reschedule them until a month from now. Today though, was different. Today, almost ALL of our 32 (!) appointments came, representing 80 individuals that were able to receive food today. There were only 5 no shows, which is unheard of in the history (1 year) of grocery assistance.
And on top of that... Today almost everybody was so grateful... I'm not sure you can imagine how hard it is to cheerfully hand a box of free food to someone who in return demands chicken instead of the beef in the box, refuses to take the bananas, because 'they attract bugs' or gets mad at you when they find out there's no coffee.
I really like helping people. And I really like it best on days like today... When everybody comes in, no missed appointments, no complaints, no verbal abuse (oh yes, that happens)... Just a fairly straight forward time of helping people make ends meet.
Days like today help me remember why I do what I do. Days like today make me grateful and help me continue to pray for the people of our neighborhood.
Days like today help me go through the days when I feel like a punching bag; when everyone who walks through our door seems to see something wrong with the way we serve them; when it's just not fun.
Thank you Jesus, for reminding me how much I like helping people. I learn from the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment