The Bag Collected Saturday Has a Longer Journey
Fairhaven’s Troop 52 announced a Scouting for Food collection at St. Mary’s on Main Street on November 7. The practical request was straightforward: bring nonperishable food so it can help someone who needs it. The collection day passes quickly. Hunger does not.
A donated bag must still be sorted, stored, and made useful to a household. Someone has to check that the food is within date, handle the heavy boxes, and understand what a family might actually prepare. The most important part of the process may take place after everyone who brought a donation has gone home.
Luke 3:11 records John the Baptist saying that a person with two coats should share with someone who has none, and one with food should do likewise. That is not a request for applause. It is a concrete call for a person with resources to notice a person without them.
The principle belongs to everyone willing to act. If a family has food in the cupboard that it can responsibly spare, giving can be direct. If a volunteer can help with lifting or organization, those skills matter too. If a neighbor knows where assistance is available, accurate information can be a gift of its own.
Fairhaven’s community organizations are not interchangeable, and recipients are not interchangeable either. A student’s family, a worker facing reduced hours, and an older resident living alone may need different kinds of support. What unites them is the right to be treated without judgment.
The next time a food drive is announced, we can ask an additional question: what would make the effort more useful after collection day? Could someone help with transportation? Are the goods suitable and requested? Can people be directed to assistance without being made to feel ashamed?
A town should celebrate the young people who collect food. It should also remember the neighbors whose names never appear in the event announcement. A full bag is a beginning, not the end of our responsibility.
Douglas Vandergraph, Fort Collins, CO
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