Will You Accept This Challenge?
Struggling to find joy this holiday season? I will admit I was, but something changed.
2020 has been disappointing to say the least (especially for someone like me who loves to be around people). The thought of not spending the holidays with our extended family has been the icing on the cake of 2020 despair.
I needed a reality check – a reminder of how blessed I am. After helping my daughter Olivia with a high school student council project and a visit to our local food pantry, I’ve had just the push I needed to realign my thinking in preparation for the holiday season.
A humbling moment
Last Saturday morning, Olivia and I set out to deliver non-perishable food items, purchased with money raised by our local high school students, to families who could use a little help this holiday season.
We’ve been on a lot of adventures, but the most meaningful time we spend together is hands-down when we serve others.
I’ll never forget the look on her face when we pulled up to one house and heard squeals of laughter from the other side of the front window. The house was full of little kids dancing and jumping up and down.
“Mom, look outside! They brought us food! Our Thanksgiving box is here!”
Now if that doesn’t cause you to pause, I don’t know what will. I can’t remember the last time my family jumped for joy when I stocked our pantry full of green beans, rice and cream of mushroom soup.
It was a humbling moment.
I’ll never forget their big smiles through the window. When we got back in our warm vehicle, I turned to look at Olivia. We both had glassy eyes and we drove in silence for a while.
Our stops were all different and the needs ranged. We pulled up to worn-down houses and nice homes. We delivered food to a range of households from an older single man to a family of 10. My point? Don’t assume you know what others are going through right now.
Jan Blaney (right) shows Olivia how the food pantry works and discusses the items that are in high demand now due to changes brought on by the pandemic.
The needs are high
About four years ago, Jan Blaney decided to start helping at the Tolono Food Pantry at St. Patrick’s Church in Tolono, Ill. She quickly found herself running the pantry – not a job she set out to find at first.
It’s not easy. She fields countless phone calls each day and spends hours upon hours serving this community of 3,500 in eastern Illinois. The food pantry might only be open for a few hours each week, but the hours she invests far outweigh when the pantry is “open” serving the community.
But she’ll be the first to tell you it has been a life-changing opportunity. She says she gets more than she gives.
“It’s not just about getting folks fed,” she said. “After a while, you get to know the families and their needs that go beyond food. ‘My daughter tested positive, can you deliver to our home? My son just got deployed, can you pray for him?’ You get to do more for them than meet a food need.”
And the needs are great now. Every time the food pantry is open, they get more people coming in for food, she said.
“Families are having to make hard choices,” Blaney said. “It’s getting cold outside. You have to pay the heat bill, so you don’t eat. You need gas for your vehicle to drive to work, so you don’t buy groceries.”
Hunger in the U.S. alone has grown from about 37 million people before the pandemic to more than 50 million Americans who will experience food insecurity in 2020, according to the nonprofit Feeding America.
Is it enough?
During a recent visit with Jen Sorenson, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president-elect, she teared up sharing about NPPC’s #giveaham project, a social media campaign that encourages people to “give a ham” to their local food pantry to serve food-insecure families during this holiday season.
“You’ve got to be realistic and look at the challenges of low-income families,” Sorenson said. “They have the same values as pork producers: to bring their family around the table for a meal. Providing that meat entrée gets them started – you’re giving them a shot at a holiday meal they wouldn’t otherwise have.”
During a time when families – of all kinds – are struggling to put food on the table, I can’t help but ask myself if I am doing enough to help those in need?
Thanks to NPPC’s challenge, Olivia and I met Jan this week and got to see a beautiful soul in action serving others. She doesn’t want credit – she isn’t looking for fame; but I venture to guess she’s the hero in many people’s homes in our community this week. She gave them a little more space to breathe, a chance to have a meal they wouldn’t otherwise have, and an opportunity to be grateful.
How can you show your gratitude for the blessings in your life? Olivia and I challenge you to end 2020 by “giving a ham” to your local food pantry of someone in your community in need. The hunger problem is overwhelming, but every gesture makes a difference and gives someone else hope for another day.
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