Some of the most important memories of my childhood are memories of accompanying my parents and grandparents to do service. I remember my grandfather picking me up from elementary school to take me to the local food pantry where he counseled families while I sorted the cans into their proper places on the grocery shelves. When I was a little older, I accompanied him to the women and children’s shelter he helped to start, doing my homework alongside the other children there. I remember my mother – more than once – stopping her car on the side of the road to pick up a cold family and take them to K-Mart to buy a cart full of groceries and clothes that were better for the winter. Our family didn’t always have a lot of luxuries, but we always had enough to share.
Knowing that it is my responsibility to help take care of my neighbors as best as I can is the best thing that my family ever taught me, and it’s a lesson that Max and I hope to pass on to Rowan. There’s a free Thanksgiving luncheon in my hometown that my almost 93 year old grandfather hasn’t missed working since he was one of its founders twenty-something years ago. Rowan hasn’t missed it in his three Thanksgivings, either. Recently, we took Rowan to pack lunches for Street Meals for the first time. Hunger and homelessness are pretty heavy topics for a 2 year old, but even he could grasp that he was putting crackers and juice boxes into bags for people who didn’t have a house full of juice and crackers. It’s a tradition that we hope to continue and expand upon, so I’m trying to do my part to make sure that Street Meals and the other service programs at Kashi Atlanta are sustainable both for the people who are served and for those of us are learning through the serving. If you are able to make a donation of any size, my family would be so grateful.