Need and generosity

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Foodlink of Tulare County, generosity, holiday meals, needy students, Oval Park - Visalia, Pinkham Elementary School - Visalia, St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Visalia, Visalia Emergency Aid

Last Friday morning several of us from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Visalia visited Pinkham Elementary School, continuing a tradition that began seven years ago when we began partnering with them.  Each Thanksgiving, as well as each Christmas, St. Paul’s provides several student families with not only enough food for a holiday feast, but staples and ingredients for several additional days’ meals.  It is a treat for us to shop intentionally for these families and then to deliver the food to school for them.

The custodian who was helping us unload the groceries was new to us, and unfamiliar with our routine.  As we were making the last trip from our cars to the teachers’ workroom, he made a comment that really made me think.  “It is too bad there aren’t as many generous people as there are poor people,” he said.

I really think there are.  The difficulty lies in pairing up the generous people with those who need help.  When I am downtown and see a homeless person stretched out in Oval Park, using his or her belongings as a pillow, I can safely assume that person needs help.  But driving past Pinkham School, located in a middle class neighborhood and looking quite prosperous, how would I know that there were hungry children trying to learn in those classrooms?  And yet nearly every teacher knows of at least one family that is hanging on by its fingernails, trying to make ends meet.

It is incumbent upon us to search out people who need our help — not just at the holidays, but all year long.  We don’t individually need to re-invent the wheel; there are agencies who can readily identify those in need, and have systems in place to help people without destroying their privacy.  But we, as individuals and congregations, need to do our parts.

Write out a generous check to FoodLink of Tulare County to help feed the hungry.  Better yet, call them and ask how you can volunteer to sort food or fund raise.  Donate food to Visalia Emergency Aid.  Offer to work in their warehouse during distribution times.  Take part in the Crop Walk Against Hunger in the spring, or the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  Encourage your house of worship to be involved with the poor in our community, not just in overseas missions.

The need is there.  The generous people are there, too.  We simply need to act.

 

CROP Walk

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Church World Service, CROP Walk, Foodlink of Tulare County, hunger, Visalia Emergency Aid

Visalians came through again today for the hungry in their community and the larger world by participating in the CROP Walk to End World Hunger. An ecumenical walk sponsored by Church World Service, the CROP Walk is a symbolic representation of the efforts needed by much of the world in order to procure their food each day.

Stretching a little over four miles, the long route of the walk passes through some of Visalia’s poorer neighborhoods and by Visalia Emergency Aid’s office and food pantry. Sandy Beals, Director of Tulare FoodLink was also there to offer thanks for the walkers’ efforts on behalf of our county’s poor.

It is so easy to forget that here, in the midst of the nation’s richest agricultural area, there are so many for whom hunger is a daily struggle. The annual CROP Walk serves as a poignant reminder, as well as a way for us to do something positive to aid our neighbors. My congratulations and thanks to those who organized this year’s walk, as well as to the church congregations who took part.

Visalia Race Against Hunger 2013

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community spirit, Race Against Hunger 2013, St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Visalia, Thanksgiving, Turkey Trot, Visalia, Visalia Emergency Aid

At 6:45 this morning my daughter and I arrived in downtown Visalia, bundled up layer by layer against the November morning chill.  A local rock and roll band was covering favorites from the ’60s forward, and registration tents sheltered volunteers handing out vest numbers and race tee shirts.  There was a wonderful party spirit in the air, as friends found each other in the gathering crowd, exchanging high-5s and hugs.  This is what Visalia does best:  friends, families, and neighbors joining together to raise money for those less fortunate while having a wonderful time.

This was my third year participating in the “walking” race…one mile right down the middle of Main Street and one mile back.  (A group from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has gathered for this race for the last several years.)  My daughter was celebrating two months as a non-smoker by running her first 5K with a friend.

As we waited for the kids races to end, the emcee announced that our race participation this year would enable Visalia Emergency Aid to feed 2,500 families with at least 5,000 children this winter!

We took off a little after 8:00 a.m.; our little group included 7 adults, 2 dogs, and the newest member of our congregation snuggled up in a pack on his mommy’s chest.  At one point I looked around me and counted at least six strollers and seven dogs in my immediate vicinity, people sporting turkey hats, elf costumes, tutus, and, of course, Turkey Trot 2013 tee shirts.

The final count wasn’t in by the time we finished, but the preliminary count was 6,000 participants this year, proof positive that no matter how gloomy the television news may be, generosity and goodwill are alive and well in Visalia.  By 9:00 a.m., we were back home in our kitchen working on our Thanksgiving feast, content that we had each done our part in feeding others in our community.

I am blessed.