A lesson to be learned

I recently was reading the Independent (can I just say I love local news) dated February 11, 2010. One of the articles was about Open Heart Kitchen temporary moving to Holy Cross Lutheran Church for Tuesday and Wednesday meals while their current digs are being renovated.

First I thought, thank God, Open Heart Kitchen did not have to close and Holy Cross is able to fill their needs while the work is being done. For those of you who do not know as listed on Open Heart's Kitchen's website "Our guests come from all walks of life. Some are homeless, but unlike many urban “soup kitchens” Open Heart Kitchen guests are mostly the working poor. Many are low income seniors on a fixed income, single-parent families, and multi-generational families all struggling to make ends meet. At Open Heart Kitchen they find a free healthy meal in an environment that upholds their dignity. Open Heart Kitchen fulfills the most basic need of hunger in a dignified manner through 3 meal program."

What a fantastic organization. It says in the paper that 181,000 meals were fed to the needy in the Tri-Valley last year. If you break it down in real terms that means that every citizen in Livermore (with a population of approximately 80,000) could have been fed at least 2 meals in the last year. In hard economic times, that is impressive.

To have Holy Cross open it's doors for the Tuesday and Wednesday meals only is incredible. I am not a member of Holy Cross but know several individuals who attend there and also know several parents whose children attend school there.

I can think of no better lesson to be learned by children then to show them the love of Jesus through prayer, words and action and how to be proactive leaders in our community where the need for Open Heart Kitchen is so dire.

So thank you Holy Cross. There is a lesson to be learned.