For The Kids
December 5th, 2008 by ComputerBob
Lately, it seems that I often find myself in situations where the words “Thank You” can’t possibly express my level of gratitude.
For example, a couple of months ago, when I went to my favorite pizza place, I noticed a flyer on their counter that described their new lunch buffet. While talking about it with the manager, I found out that they started out having the buffet 7 days a week, but stopped having it on Saturdays because business was so slow that they ended up “throwing away too much food.” When I heard that, I immediately got an idea. I gave him some brochures and told him all about our domestic violence shelter and the good work that it does. To make a long story short, the next day, that family-owned business happily agreed to call me on my cell phone whenever they have food left over at the end of their lunch buffet. I pick up the food and take it to the domestic violence center and shelter where I work as a volunteer — where they currently feed, clothe and shelter 35 domestic violence survivors.
In the past couple of months, my favorite pizza place has blessed our survivors with many meals, including a couple dozen large pizzas and several containers of chicken fettuccini alfredo, chicken marsala, lasagna, chicken wings, salad and baklava. All of that wholesome comfort food provides some “normalcy” and a sense of being loved to survivors whose lives typically have very little of either.
I keep track of all of the donations and then, once a month, the shelter sends the restaurant a letter thanking them for their tax-deductible donation.
About a month ago, the shelter’s children made two large posters, thanking the restaurant for donating their yummy food. The owners framed those posters and now display them on the restaurant’s walls for all of their customers to see.
When I arrived to pick up this past Wednesday’s food donation, one of the owners handed me a large bag full of food and said, “And I’ve also got two pizzas for you. We only had one left over, so I made another one for you. I want to make sure that all the kids will get some pizza.”
Like I said, sometimes the words “Thank You” don’t even come close to expressing how I feel.
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Tags:
Domestic Violence, Inspirational, Personal, Survivors