About a month ago I had a Thursday free and decided to volunteer at my church’s harvest food bank ministry. I was feeling kind of low and thought maybe I just needed to get my mind off my petty problems for a bit. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. The people there are so warm and kind, and I immediately felt that I had a place and that they were glad I had come. The volunteers are church members and people from the community, some of whom receive groceries from harvest too, and most of the volunteers have been there for years and years. They are a loveable bunch. Lots of hugs and honest sharing and true community. Mostly Luke was excited to go to church in a baseball cap and regular clothes, as opposed to the frightful collared shirts I like him to wear on Sundays.
Like all good days, this one started out with a hearty breakfast. We went to Pancake House and in a surprising and lovely coincidence, my dad just happened to show up too and joined us! That was the first of a few very pleasant surprises to our day.
Our next pleasant surprise happened when we showed up at church – a family we have become closer with this past year are homeschoolers, and even though they hadn’t come to volunteer at harvest in years, today they decided to show up. Coincidence? I really don’t think I believe in those anymore. It was great for Luke as I had prepared him for only “old people”, so to have people to chat with was pretty great. They needed some muscle upstairs to move some pews around while we waited for the Harvest truck, so he happily went with the two older boys from that family and the pastor’s two boys who ended up coming as well. Another bonus of today was the youth leader who “happened” to be volunteering today, and took the time to chat and connect with Luke and the other boys. I saw Luke smiling and laughing with them on a few occasions and was so glad this was the day we decided to come.
Watching the truck getting unloaded is pretty cool. They have a metal ramp that they roll all the racks and boxes down on, and the mounds of bread alone is pretty impressive. Luke got involved right away, stacking big boxes and unloading the food that 100 homes got to benefit from today.
Here’s Luke sorting peppers with Lauren, the youth guy.
After the unloading process, Pastor Al gives a little talk, reminding us all that what we all need more than the food we are serving, is the true life available to us through Jesus. People piped in freely with their thoughts throughout his message and he gladly accepted the additions and sometimes quirky comments. Some of these people know what it means, in a way I’ll never truly understand, to need and find a Savior, and I can’t help but be a tad envious of their openness. Having grown up in the church and knowing nothing other than the comforts of this faith and church community, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to get to know Jesus for the first time as an adult, after years of struggle.
After the message, we all ate together and got assigned our stations for the afternoon distribution.
Luke learned how to break down the boxes from Mr. Dueck, the octogenarian from church who has been volunteering probably longer than I’ve been alive. He was so gentle and patient with Luke, and by the end they were laughing together. Watching that moment was one of the highlights for me.
Luke and I were in charge of one table for distribution, and Luke took charge quite quickly of organizing and stacking his energy bars and pop cans that were in his charge. I got Viva Puffs and Red Velvet cupcakes and we had fun making towers and trying to make our table look appealing. Luke was like a salesman, as he told the recipients that they could have two energy bar boxes and one drink, and pointed out his two different flavours of bars. I was very proud of his courage in talking to strangers, and I could see he felt important. He was all business but a lot of people commented on how great it was that he was there helping, which was nice to hear. Halfway through he asked if there was a real job like this he could do, like, for money, when he’s older.
He was surprised, later, to learn that these people didn’t have to PAY for this food, especially as he eyed the Viva Puffs wistfully. He asked why we couldn’t just do our shopping here, FOR FREE! and so we had a little chat about how at different times in peoples’ lives it can be hard to make ends meet. After hearing about his “need” for an ipad for school next year the last few weeks, I thought a little visit away from his somewhat affluent school community was in order. It was a good reminder to me too. Sometimes having more is having less, and sometimes those with less teach us far more about true community and the richness that is found in each other. There is something absolutely magnetic about that place and my day is brighter from having been there today. And by the smile on Luke’s face as we walked to school to pick up the two who didn’t play hooky, I think Luke’s is too.
Today 