This post was supposed to come with a photo of my daughter helping out with a local canned food drive with her American Heritage Girls Troop. She was supposed to go do this yesterday afternoon, but she is still recuperating from the doozy of a flu that has knocked her out for almost two weeks, so she didn't make it.
But anyway, canned food drives are an easy way to help out the local poor and homeless. And there are lots of opportunities.
Groups like American Heritage Girls, Boys Scouts, 4-H, etc often participate in these kinds of drives, so they make it fairly easy to remember to give to those less fortunate.
My parish actually does three things that involve collecting non-perishable food for community food banks. First of all, every Sunday they have a collection area in the narthex or lobby of our church. Every week in the bulletin, they publish what items the local community food bank, local homeless shelter or crisis pregnancy center needs. Then you are supposed to go out and pick up a couple of the items when shopping during the week, leave them in your car and then bring them in when you come for Sunday Mass. You'd think this would be as easy as pie. For years now, I've intended to make this a habit but I think I have only contributed to this once in the 10 years we've been attending this parish!!! Wait a minute, since I am thinking of this right now, I am going to go put some things in my car, so I can take them to Mass with me tomorrow.
Okay, I'm back.
Another thing my parish does, which is really moving, is at the end of Mass on Thanksgiving morning everyone is invited to drop food donations off on the altar. It is quite moving to see all these people, after participating in a Mass of thanksgiving, to bring their donations up to the altar and see the altar just covered with people's contributions. Children especially love to bring their offering up and I think it gives them a tiny sense of how beautiful giving can be.
My parish also does something each summer in conjunction with a couple of other parishes in our area. They have what they call a Junior High Work Camp. Kids who are rising 7th, 8th and 9th graders, participate in a 3.5 day 'workcamp.' Each child is assigned to a service team which has a specific service job to do. Some of the possible service jobs include helping the crisis pregnancy center clean out its garage which is chock full of donations; swimming with kids at a local program for the mentally disabled, weeding and lawn care for a nearby convent and also some of the elderly parishioners who need help, etc. It always includes a canned food drive. The kids go out and distribute flyers announcing their drive to the neighborhoods around the church building. Then two days later, they come around and collect. My son found it so gratifying to see how much people would give to strangers. I think that feeling of gratification helps children realize that there is joy in giving and that part of a Christian's life of faith is to always be mindful of and generous to those less fortunate. I think this forms a habit of charity.
Of course there are lots of food drives out there, in workplaces, schools or sponsored by various clubs. These are just the opportunities that play out in my particular family's life.
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