There’s No Quit in Us.
A few months ago, we wrote to you about how food donations were down while the need for food was rising. I was planning for this email to be about how awesome you are (which you are), and how all of your donations and volunteering helped (which it did), and how we’ve been able to keep up with demand. That was going to be a really fun email to write. I’ll write that email one of these days, but not today.
Right now, we’re staring at the possibility of SNAP benefits freezing tomorrow. Over the past month, the number of people coming to us for food doubled. Yesterday, the number of people tripled.
If you’re able, we need your donations and we need your volunteer time.
So, that victory email will have to wait a bit, but I have faith that it’s coming. Instead, I need to go into “inspirational coach from a sports movie” mode. Don’t worry, I don’t own those polyester gym shorts and I’ll keep the whistle in my pocket. But right now, it’s some combination of the fourth quarter, and bottom of the 9th, and the 3rd period, and injury time. We’re tired. Maybe we’re feeling beaten down. Maybe we’re starting to lose hope.
But there’s no quit in us. There’s no quit in any of us. Because we’ll never quit on each other.
Here’s how I know we’re ready to rise to the challenge. After you responded to our call for help last month, LSH began purchasing more food than ever with your donations. We’ve formed partnerships with two new stores, Sprouts and Save-a-Lot, that are offering food donations to augment what we receive from Philabundance, Share Food Program, and Sharing Excess. We’ve leased a vehicle so that we can manage all the new pick-ups and deliveries. And the food you’ve collected for us through food drives with your neighbors and colleagues – we’re making sure it’s getting straight into the hands of the people who need it.
I’m inspired by the response so far, but I have to take a moment to be real. (This is where the coach gets down on one knee and drops his voice). I can’t believe we’re here. How do we let this happen? How do we allow anyone—our elders, our children, our neighbors—to go hungry? This can’t be who we’re meant to be.
But that’s starting to sound despairing, and I won’t give in to despair. I have you to thank for that. I just have to look to the compassion I see inside the walls of Lutheran Settlement House, and the compassion I see from all of you in the community. (Now, this is when we all stand in a circle, hands together in the middle). If you can help, we need your help. If you need help, just ask, we’ve all needed help at some point.
We’re in this together, we will build something better together, and when we stand together, we are unbeatable.
With gratitude,
David Chiles
This story is part of Every Day at Lutheran Settlement House, a new series featuring stories from our Executive Director.
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