Bagging Hunger
I can be pretty passive about things, yes, it’s true. I’ve been attending Grace Community Church since 2002 and in all the years we’ve done Bag Hunger, I haven’t contributed once. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I’d even take a yellow bag home with me convinced that I’d finally get around to donating food! But alas, my procrastination got the better of me.
That changed when I started to volunteer at Shepherd Community Center on Tuesday nights. As part of our volunteer orientation, I was given a tour of the facility and was shown where all the donated food was stored. More importantly, when I started working with the kids, I realized that the food we were collecting at Grace was going to help feed those kids.
It’s sad to think that 8 out of 10 kids on the eastside of Indianapolis will get two meals a day when they’re in school, instead of the recommended three meals per day. Who knows if they’re provided with two meals a day during the summer, which is why our Bag Hunger program at Grace has begun stirring my heart. And you know what? It wasn’t as expensive as I thought! I worked at Marsh for over eight years and was familiar with the foods that parents bought with WIC vouchers (Women, Infants, and Children) and food stamps, so my shopping trip was pretty easy.
And the cost? I was able to fill one of our yellow bags for under $15… especially when buying generic. Furthermore, I considered it not as charity, but as part of my offering. To those of you who attend Grace, I can’t emphasize enough that Shepherd Community is one of our awesome partners in what God is doing. And if you’re able to, consider taking a yellow bag with you when you go grocery shopping. It’s a great way to remind you that there are people out there who could use our help in feeding their families and it will only take a little bit of effort on your part.
If you don’t go to Grace, you can still participate! Just stop by during the week (or during weekend services) and pick up a yellow bag by the main entrances, fill it up with food, and drop it off at the collection containers near the main entrances. It’s a great way to contribute to the community. For more information about Bag Hunger, visit http://gracecc.org/baghunger.
