Winning Words 12/8/10
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” (Mother Theresa – sent by Dave Henig) Dave and I were at a meeting last week when a program to assist the hungry was talked about. The religious groups in our community are hoping to collect a half ton of food on the 1st Friday of each month in order to provide 45,000 meals a day for parents skipping meals to feed their children and for seniors choosing heat and prescriptions over food. ;-) Jack

FROM YOOPER BOB: May the God of compassion and justice so inspire the community to respond in abundance! FROM JACK: The divide between the rich and the poor widens, but our religious groups (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) are seeking to bring us closer together. "Your pain is our pain."

FROM MT IN PENNSYLVANIA: That is right on target! I wonder how many people DON'T take action just because a large-scale problem makes them feel powerless to help. FROM JACK: There's a Catholic Church near us that was built from "penny" contributions during the depression era.

FROM DS IN MICHIGAN: This is wonderful. How can I help? Wish we had made a canned food drive for the Coalition's Friday breakfast. We are doing that with a teen activity over the Holidays FROM JACK: A Ford van will be in the parking lot of Prince of Peace Catholic Church on the 1st Friday of each month starting next month. You can open the van door and leave your items. Stay tuned for this Friday's prayer.

FROM DM IN MICHIGAN: What a worthy cause. FROM JACK: What I like about it is that it's a community project, and you know (first-hand) where the gifts are going.

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE: Very good. So far as giving goes, Peter Drucker, my guru in mgt., said that people give to results, not needs. The point being that there are many needs in the world, but we give to places that will do the most for the investment. FROM JACK: Since the givers are in our community, and the need is in our community, it's practically hand to mouth.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: I agree with Mother Theresa, of course. But whatever happened to our country in the last fifty years that families or neighbors no longer help when the need is there? Nothing is ever perfect, but we see it ins Tampa and Orlando, where many come for the warmer weather. St. Petersburg has outlawed panhandling. The churches in Tampa have banded together and formed the Metropolitan Ministries which offers food and shelter. Individual churches have their own pantries besides. FROM JACK: One thing I like about our program is that it is spearheaded by the religious community. They have seen the need and are stepping forward to help with the problem. "Government" does not see the issue with the same set of eyes. The poor and homeless here have the additional problem of trying to keep warm.

FROM MAD IN MICHIGAN: Hi, Where do we take the food? FROM JACK: On the first Friday of each month, there will be a clearly marked van in the parking lot of Prince of Peace Catholic Church on Walnut Lake Rd. Put the food inside of the van. Let me know if you have trouble finding it.

FROM GUSTIE MARLYS: I am going to a Christmas Tea at a friend’s home. She suggested that we bring something for the food shelf—great idea and I will do that! FROM JACK: If each of us could come up with an idea like that...what a great world this would be!

FROM PRCH ON CAPE COD: Helpful advice –especially this time of year where one is inundated with pleas from charities and ministries to give… and one just can’t do it all… (but one can do something!) FROM JACK: Is there a "hunger" problem on the Cape? Or is it a Detroit phenomena? MORE FROM CH: Food pantry usage at our church is up significantly, and around the Cape as well.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: It's almost overwhelming how many people need help right now. K's two friends husbands just lost their jobs...and one their home on top of it. When we are pulled in so many directions, it's so easy to just says enough. I truly believe people as a whole are more than willing to help out...the need is just overwhelming. But to help just one will be just one who doesn't need help from someone else. FROM JACK: As the saying goes, "If you can help just one (of them) that's what it's about." Their pain is my pain.

FROM LIZ IN ILLINOIS: The "heat or meat" situation is a tough one, especially this time of year. I've chosen heat. FROM JACK: Life is made up of many choices...and some are especially hard for those with limited incomes. Some of us are so used to comfort, that we really don't know what dis-comfort is.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: We serve the homeless the last Tues. of each month. In Nov.. we had over 100 come for dinner..more than ever before. We also give food for the food bank on communion Sunday each month. Our food pantries are stretched to the limit all the time! Hard to imagine in our country there is so much need! I visited Mother Theresa's compound in Calcutta, when I toured India with AB Women three years ago.
FROM JACK: In biblical days, those with the disease of leprosy had to shout, "Unclean!" so that others would steer clear of them. In today's world, we are often so insulated from the hungry and the homeless that we are unaware of their real suffering and have no clue as to how they feel, physically and emotionally.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: Found out from gardening that, if you want to want to propagate some seeds indoors, you have to put them in the freezer so they can have their cold dormant time. Maybe this is theodicy of plant life or something. FROM JACK: That's one I've never heard before...and it fits, too.