Doing the most good

George Arnold, Grayson Smith and Snoopy the bell-ringing mutt in front of Macy's in Friendly Shopping Center. Seriously, folks saw these bell-ringers, did about faces, returned to their cars, refilled their wallets and purses, and came back to stuff the red kettle.

Shine The Light on Hunger - 3,831 pounds so far - still a ways to go

Gardner Sheffield keeps a close eye on the food collection trailer, the yellow food collection bucket, and the weather.  He called to say that with wintry mix in the forecast, we better empty the trailer, "Why don't I take half the food to Second Harvest Food Bank and half to Urban Ministry?"  With Second Harvest's partner agency demand up 75% this year and Urban Ministry's pantry overflowing at the moment, we made the executive decision to allocate 100% of this trailer load to Second Harvest. 

First the good news.  This installment weighed in at 943 pounds, bringing the Shine the Light on Hunger total so far to 3,831.  As of this moment, the food's been inspected, sorted, and is on its way to needy persons. 

Now the bad news:  nearly 50 million people -- including almost one child in four -- struggled last year to get enough to eat.  You can read how America's economic pain has brought on hunger pangs here.   After you finish that, get a copy of the USDA's report on food security (insecurity) in America).  Warning: it's not for the faint of heart, but go on and read it anyway.

In 2007, Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls in Sunset Hills collected 2,976 pounds of food. 

In 2008, we collected 4,000 pounds, up 34%, during a recession I might add. 

This year's goal is 10,000 pounds.  I don't know where we got a goal that's 2 1/2 times what we collected last year, but there it is. 

At 3,831 pounds we're not there yet, and that's where you come in.  We would love for you to gather up all the non-perishable food you can fit in your car, truck or backpack and come see the lights, and donate food here or here.  Tell your family, friends, and co-workers.  If you're retired and your home is a retirement center, fill at least one seat on the bus with non-perishable food.  If you run, get everyone in your running club to grab 2 cans of food and run to the yellow barrel or food collection trailer.  Just come and bring food.  You'll be glad you did. 

The trailer keeps on filling up

Here's a shot taken Sunday night of the trailer at 11pm.  Seeing the trailer and it's companion, the yellow barrel, fill up again and again has been a tremendous joy to each person who's helped redistribute the food to 2nd Harvest Food Bank of NW North Carolina and Greensboro Urban Ministry.  I'm sure each person who's left left a can, box, or bag in one of the collection points has felt the surprise joy of being connected with other persons, even strangers, with a common heart of kindness. 

While it was still daylight, Harold, a person who's worked in Sunset Hills yards for decades, and a man of few words, was out blowing leaves out of the gutter and around the trailer.  I was at the trailer rebalancing boxes and bags of food.  Harold saw me, cut off his leaf blower and peered inside the trailer.  A long pause later he said, "It's a wonderful thing to live in a town where there's so many people who want to do good and share with others." Wish I could say that's been my reaction for all of 2009.  Maybe hearing Horace's pronouncement will help me change that. 

Gardner called this morning as I was leaving for work.  I could hear the smile in his voice. He was already in Winston Salem and had already taken 870 pounds of food to 2nd Harvest.  Christmas Eve, Gardner and his son Daniel and my son in law Johnathan and my son Justin and I took all the food that had piled up, filled his car till the springs started sagging, then put the rest of it in my Suburban.  I told him I was taking what we loaded in my Suburban that night to Urban Ministry.  I did.  It weighed in at 742 pounds.  So far, we've taken 2,888 pounds of food to 2nd Harvest and Urban Ministry.  And the week's just starting. 

I love how The Message translates Proverb 19:17.  It says, “Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full.

It sure is a wonderful thing to live in a town where so many people who want to show mercy and do good.

788 pounds of non-perishable food given to 2nd Harvest Food Bank of NW North Carolina

It was after dark when I pulled into the driveway Thursday after work. In the distance, just past the trailer, I saw two persons rummaging thru the cans, bottles, boxes and bags that had been slowly accumulating.
I've wondered what I'd do if I encountered someone taking food from the trailer when the idea is to put food in.  (If they asked for my scarf would I give them my coat, too? I'm not so sure.)

Jesus words in Matthew 5 crossed my mind, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

I nudged my Suburban around to the front yard only to find Janet Watford and Gardner Sheffield, unloading, sorting, repackaging, and reloading everything into Gardner's car. They were almost done.  I jumped in alongside and we finished in a few minutes.  I didn't tell them I thought they were food rustlers. 

The next day, Gardner drove his food filled car to Winston Salem. With the help of three hard working volunteers (pictured above), a grateful 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina reported that Sunset Hills Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls had donated 788 pounds of non-perishable food. 

We're still a long way off from our goal of 10,000 pounds.  If you're out touring Greensboro's beautiful Christmas lights, put a friend or two in your car, pack a sackful of non-perishable food, and come find one of the collection sites for food for NC food banks. Thanks.

Shine The Light on Hunger

Everyone else's yard sign is at ground level. You can't miss this one - in a raised pot - it's at eye level. And everyone is asking WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE TERRIFIC SIGNS PRINTED? The answer is - of course- our buddy Matt at Bravo Signs did a dozen of them for us, just for the cause. He is all about shining the light on hunger. He does great work and is fun to work with.

Food Bank Service Entrance

Jonathan here: We stuck the trailer (see right) in our yard with one wheel on the curb and the other on the lawn, tilted toward Ridgeway Drive. The forecast was for rain, so friend Phil brought over their Harris Teeter tailgate tent and together we popped it up and tied it down with tent stakes. About 5:00am rain set in, so hard it woke me up.  I got up and went outside to check the trailer. Water is the enemy of non-perishable food, especially boxed cereal, rice, and pasta.  The trailer was about half full, and fortunately everything in it was still dry. I found a polypropylene tarp, lashed it over the top and sides, and went back to bed. I was so cold my teeth were rattling. 

As in years past, the majority of LCB traffic enters Ridgeway at the north (Friendly Avenue) and drives south (toward Market Street).  Three fourths of cars turn east on Madison; the rest continue to Market.  This year, in an attempt to get folks to drive the length of Ridgeway, we thought if we parked the trailer on Ridgeway that might make things easier.  As it turned out, drivers seemed puzzled when the trailer wasn't in its usual place, between the sidewalk and Madison in front of Toad Hall.  Navigating to its new location seemed hard.  Some parked alongside Madison, as in years before, got out, and walked around the corner to the trailer across from Marlene's home. Others stopped on Marlene's side of the street and walked across Ridgeway to access the trailer. Not safe.  So friends Jim and Janet offered to meet us at home after work to move the trailer to safer (and more accessible) ground. We arrived home to find the trailer, neatly and safely parked right on the curve of the corner, in plain view, complete with Harris Teeter tailgating tent tied down with tent stakes, safe and sound.  Thanks Jim and Janet.

People kept coming Sunday and Monday nights, bringing gifts of non-perishable food.  By Tuesday morning the trailer was about half full and the forecast was for rain, so before noon I stopped by, transferred bags, boxes, cans and jars to my Suburban and drove over to Potter's house.

It's been a year since I had been to Potters house. A mid-day weekday visit is as busy as it gets.  Men and women, some going some coming, some new to street life, some tired, faces worn and eyes blank; I saw a high school aged kid with a backpack and a mixed race couple. The homeless rarely walk side by side, like my wife and I do; one walks in front, the other ten or so feet behind, like a wounded person on a litter or a deer being hauled back to camp.  Truth is, they're exhausted to the point they have nothing left to give each other; couples who've lost a child feel like this.

Antonio and two other men whose names I didn't get met me at the dock before I could ring the buzzer (see sign, right).  Antonio, I learned, played football for Grimsley and graduated in 2001.  Greensboro needs more men like these men, strong, focused, servant-leaders. 

All totaled, Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls, which includes Sunset Hills neighbors and friends who attended the 7th Annual Lighted Christmas Ball Workshop, had given an abundance of nourishing, life-sustaining non-perishable food to Potter's house. 

Our goal is 10,000 pounds this year.  Help make it so.  We've got a good start, but that's where you come in.  If your life has been blessed with abundance, consider making a grocery shop using this suggested shopping list, stopping by one of several food collection points in the neighborhood, or investing cash in 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina or Greensboro Urban Ministry.  Come enjoy the Lighted Christmas Balls.  Bring your friends, family, and co-workers, and bring a bag of non-perishable food.  And share your hope with those whose hope has run dry.  Here's a map, we'll have other collection points mapped out by this weekend.

You can't read the dial on the scales just above the big box on the right.  It reads 488 pounds. 

It's raining where we live, hard.  It's 37 degrees cold.  I just went outside to check the trailer, it's already starting refilling itself.  I can't believe folks brave cold and the wet and dark of night just to put a few cans of groceries in a wet trailer.  But then, my faith is pretty small.

Because hunger never takes a vacation

This is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week; it is co-sponsored each year by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. Observed one week before Thanksgiving, NHHAW's aim is to bring awareness and promote efforts to end homelessness and hunger in communities across the nation.

The poor have friends, one of whom is Michelle Forrest, in Greensboro. Among other things, Michelle is a mom, and though StreetWatch, an advocate for the poor. She's a blogger and a web designer and member of the NightWatch and DayWatch street outreach teams.

She and her friends know the pain of bare shelves and the blessing of sacrifice. They know requests for food and financial assistance are up everywhere and they know donations are down. In their compassion, they worry that the homeless and hungry, whose needs outweighed provisions at the top of the boom, will be those who will ride the bust the longest. They don't worry alone.

After hosting a one day food drive at last year's workshop, extending it for the entire Thanksgiving/Christmas season seemed like the right thing to do. Although no one had experienced then the cratering retirement accounts and plummeting home prices we experience now, still the greater portion of donated food came from hands who could least afford to give it. Most plastic grocery store bags contained just one or two items, and from Food Lion not Fresh Market; some bags still had the cash register receipts showing what had been purchased was paid for with cash not plastic.

I just read that during some of the worst of times, giving remained strong. Even during the great depression, the NY Times reported charitable giving more than doubled from 1933 to 1941.

Let's hope the same will be said of this generation.