Feeding Northeast Florida once distributed 350,000 eggs in just a few days. It may seem like a dozen eggs couldn’t make much of a difference, but we’re here to tell you it can when someone feels like they have nowhere else to turn.
That’s the lesson Pastor Sammy shares based on one woman’s visit to her neighborhood food pantry. The woman shared that there was a time in her life when she was able to give to her local food bank. Her circumstances changed when her husband divorced her and left her caring for two small children. She reflected on those days, never anticipating the dramatic shift her life would undergo.
A dozen eggs was all she expected out of the visit that day. Pastor Sammy didn’t stop at a dozen eggs. After hearing her story, he took her into the pantry and offered her several bags of food.
The woman, taken aback and filled with gratitude, asked, “Why are you doing this?”. He replied, “Because it will have a domino effect. When you get back on your feet, you will help somebody else.”
This sentiment goes to the heart of what it means to be part of a compassionate community. It’s the understanding that small acts of kindness, no matter how seemingly insignificant, can set a chain of positive change in motion. Not just for the woman who couldn’t believe she had to ask for a dozen eggs to feed her girls but for the countless people who will be positively impacted by her experience that day.
That’s the cycle. Be unafraid to ask for help when you need it. Be unrestrained in your willingness to help when you can.
Food insecurity doesn’t discriminate and can strike at any time. Two hundred sixty thousand people in our community, enough to fill the Jaguars’ stadium four times, are in survival mode and don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Whether they are facing a seemingly unbreakable cycle, a sudden job loss, a health challenge, or any other circumstance, Feeding Northeast Florida exists to ease their minds and lessen their adversity.
You play a vital role. If you’re in a position to make a difference, please consider donating. Every dollar you share provides one full meal for a family in need and sets another chain of positive change in motion.
