All the way from Long Island Sound

A dear couple from Long Island came all the way, "just to see the lights," the Grandfather grinned. 

When I saw who was carrying the armful of canned goods, I knew the real reason for their visit to Greensboro, two granddaughters, one grandson, a daughter, maybe more. 

What a joy to be on the receiving end of from folks filled with the joy of giving. 

The little trailer is filling slowly but surely, albeit a little more slowly than I'd like to see.  If you're out and about, pick up an armload of non-perishable food, come visit the trailer, and see if the Lighted Christmas Balls don't burn more brightly than usual. 

788 pounds of non-perishable food given to 2nd Harvest Food Bank of NW North Carolina

It was after dark when I pulled into the driveway Thursday after work. In the distance, just past the trailer, I saw two persons rummaging thru the cans, bottles, boxes and bags that had been slowly accumulating.
I've wondered what I'd do if I encountered someone taking food from the trailer when the idea is to put food in.  (If they asked for my scarf would I give them my coat, too? I'm not so sure.)

Jesus words in Matthew 5 crossed my mind, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

I nudged my Suburban around to the front yard only to find Janet Watford and Gardner Sheffield, unloading, sorting, repackaging, and reloading everything into Gardner's car. They were almost done.  I jumped in alongside and we finished in a few minutes.  I didn't tell them I thought they were food rustlers. 

The next day, Gardner drove his food filled car to Winston Salem. With the help of three hard working volunteers (pictured above), a grateful 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina reported that Sunset Hills Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls had donated 788 pounds of non-perishable food. 

We're still a long way off from our goal of 10,000 pounds.  If you're out touring Greensboro's beautiful Christmas lights, put a friend or two in your car, pack a sackful of non-perishable food, and come find one of the collection sites for food for NC food banks. Thanks.

In all truth it's really fun to be in the spot light....

Anne here: late one afternoon last week, Jerry Wolford photographer with News Record, and Wes Beeson dropped by Toad Hall, and found us wrapped up with the big Lighted Christmas ball, a three foot diameter sphere loaded with 1,200 multi-colored mini lights. Jerry took tons of pictures while Jonathan roped Jerry and Wes into helping us into raising the big ball. Once aloft, Jonathan's next task was to Huck Finn our News-Record friends into helping him launch three more pull lines high up in an Oak tree along Ridgeway Drive. That done, we said goodbye, set about lifting a few more Lighted Christmas balls, and had no idea where Jerry's project was going.  We saw a photo on the front page of the paper but didn't go to the website to see the slide show because we were trying to get the house decorated and get closure on some other projects around the house.  

About mid-afternoon, friends Linda and Rod called to invite us over to watch the launching of a Christmas decoration Rod dreamed up (literally).  Fortified with peppermint mochas, Rod, Linda, Jonathan and I fastened seine line, parachute cord, and one pulley to Rod's beautiful star, a five foot high three dimensional, handmade, wrapped in 800 clear mini lights.  Once launched to its full 75 feet (you can see it from Cornwallis Drive and from other points in Irving Park), I called the boys to their reward: Jerry Wolford's multi-media interpretation of the Sunset Hills Lighted Christmas balls. Jerry nailed it, it's about the fellowship, community, and sharing the abundance of our pantries with others.

Come see the lights. Bring food. Bring friends and if our front door is open, stop in.

Food Drive totals

Friends of Lighted Christmas Balls donated 3,729 pounds of non-perishable food during December 2008; this is 753 pounds, or 25%, over 2007's total!

today's offering

The utility trailer sits parked and open, as would one with outstretched hands, ready to receive gifts of food, providing nourishment and hope for the under-nourished and hope-less.

within hours of having its 686 pounds of food taken to Greensboro Urban Ministry, the little trailer began filling up all over again. Since last

night:

Because hunger never takes a vacation

This is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week; it is co-sponsored each year by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. Observed one week before Thanksgiving, NHHAW's aim is to bring awareness and promote efforts to end homelessness and hunger in communities across the nation.

The poor have friends, one of whom is Michelle Forrest, in Greensboro. Among other things, Michelle is a mom, and though StreetWatch, an advocate for the poor. She's a blogger and a web designer and member of the NightWatch and DayWatch street outreach teams.

She and her friends know the pain of bare shelves and the blessing of sacrifice. They know requests for food and financial assistance are up everywhere and they know donations are down. In their compassion, they worry that the homeless and hungry, whose needs outweighed provisions at the top of the boom, will be those who will ride the bust the longest. They don't worry alone.

After hosting a one day food drive at last year's workshop, extending it for the entire Thanksgiving/Christmas season seemed like the right thing to do. Although no one had experienced then the cratering retirement accounts and plummeting home prices we experience now, still the greater portion of donated food came from hands who could least afford to give it. Most plastic grocery store bags contained just one or two items, and from Food Lion not Fresh Market; some bags still had the cash register receipts showing what had been purchased was paid for with cash not plastic.

I just read that during some of the worst of times, giving remained strong. Even during the great depression, the NY Times reported charitable giving more than doubled from 1933 to 1941.

Let's hope the same will be said of this generation.