Saint Vincent De Paul

Yesterday I attended a dinner at my church. Every Tuesday I volunteer at the Saint Vincent De Paul food pantry at our church. My job is to record the names and address of the people who come to get food. The food pantry that we get our food from requires record keeping, to insure that the commodities are not being wasted.

My girls hand out the bags of food to the people. The hungry get a bag of dry goods and a bag of fresh foods which always includes a protein, usually a meat like chicken or turkey. Large families get two bags of the dry goods.

I see the same people every week, or every other week. I feel like they are my friends. It is very humbling to stand and have conversations with these people who are down on their luck and trying to feed their families.

We used to think that if we had 25 people in line it was a lot. Well this last Tuesday we handed out food to 46 families, and that didn't seem so bad as we have had up to 70 families at times in the half hour that we are there to distribute food.

Our church decided to have a dinner for the clients of SVDP and the volunteers. At first I didn't really want to go. I had to work all day then go and be friendly. But, I went and I have to say that it was one of the best experiences ever. There were a lot of volunteers and I didn't have much to do, but sit and talk to the people and eat with them. It was richly rewarding.

So here are a few quotations that I was inspired to read and want to share.

Charity is commendable; everyone should be charitable. But justice aims to create a social order in which, if individuals choose not to be charitable, people still don’t go hungry, unschooled or sick without care. Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance. Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table. Bill Moyers

The Seven Social Evils: 
Wealth Without Work 
Pleasure Without Conscience 
Knowledge Without Character 
Commerce Without Morality 
Science Without Humanity 
Worship Without Sacrifice 
Politics Without Principles Ghandi

To a man with an empty stomach food is God Ghandi

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 25 (1948)