At Christmas most of us enjoy extra festivities and all the good things in life. In our community there are an increasing number of people in all age brackets and life circumstances who do not have enough nutritious food at any time, let alone Christmas.
As a volunteer with Mission Community Services, I work with its food bank on Logan Avenue all year and also with the Christmas Bureau. We are always so grateful for the generous support of Mission residents and businesses who have been so giving in the past.
This year due, perhaps, to weather, or other demands on people’s wallets, donations have been much slower. A couple of days ago another volunteer and I were sorting food which had been donated and talking about the situation. We spoke of hope and were praying that we might be able to meet the need. Within a short while the phone rang and a man said he and his wife wanted to donate food for hampers. What did we need? I told him I was currently sorting food for families of five and over, and that there was a need for large cans of protein-type foods. He told me he would bring in a donation. An hour or so passed, and we were so touched and grateful when he arrived with a very generous donation of food which will go directly into those hampers. An answer to our prayer!
We continue to hope and pray that Mission again will supply the ongoing need. We anticipate we will need to fill 700 Christmas hampers or more, judging by the number filled last year. Any food left goes to supply our food bank which is open five mornings a week, year round. We have a year round need for food supplies of all kinds which quickly disappear. Until Christmas, donations can be brought to either the 32646 Logan Ave. location or in the Junction Mall behind the TD Bank. Later on, we operate only from the Logan Avenue location.
Mission is a wonderful community to live in, warm, generous and giving and I am proud to call it home and volunteer for Mission Community Services. Thank you, Mission, for helping others less fortunate!
Molly Hawkins
Mission
