Wednesday, April 24, 2024
The knock on the door was so quiet, we almost didn’t hear it. A quick look around told us it wasn’t a staff member so it must be someone with a donation.
We had just started the tedious process of going through several dozen bags of donated food, diapers, cleaning supplies and other soft goods, separating, sorting, organizing and stocking bins.
The team of volunteer teens would be there at 2:30 that afternoon to start assembling hundreds of Weekend Food bags for children. It was crucial to sort through every bag, organize every item and restock every bin before then. The six of us had a plan, but it was going to take every minute we had to get it done in time.
I navigated my way to the door and pushed it open expecting to help someone unload their car. Instead, a kind-looking young man, probably in his 40s, smiled back at me and said, “I’m here to volunteer. I signed up online to help deliver meals or whatever else you need.”
I explained that by this time in the morning the routes have usually been filled, but he could sign up for another day. Behind me, he could see the piles of donations and our team moving quickly to get it organized.
“Do you have anything I could help you with here?”
“Absolutely!” I said and swung the door open for him to come inside. It was 9:30 a.m. It took less than three minutes for our new volunteer to understand the task before us and get to work.
Over the next two hours, he sorted and put away hygiene products, cleaning supplies, diapers and wipes. He rearranged furniture to give us better storage, unpacked countless boxes of macaroni and cheese, and before he left, took out the trash. We were completely done by 11:30 a.m. Even we were amazed at how much got done.
Across town at Granbury Middle School, about 20 volunteers, most of them GISD teachers, were picking up delivery routes and loading up hot lunches to deliver to their kids, each of them hoping they had a chance to at least say hello through the door or wave to them as they left. Clearly, they care deeply about their students.
While we were organizing food and calling families to verify their needs, Rotarians Cody Garrison and Kylee Peterson coordinated and managed the league of volunteers it takes to deliver upwards of 300 hot lunches every day, before noon, during a pandemic where physical distancing is critical.
All day, every day, the good people of Hood County brought us exactly what we asked for to make sure our kids had food over the weekends.
Congregations gathered food and made even more weekend food bags.
The nonprofit agencies became one in heart, volunteering for one cause, serving together.
Area food pantries shared food items so everyone had the provisions necessary to serve their population.
All across Hood County,our quilting ladies, many who routinely make quilts for our CASA children and those in our shelter, switched gears and began producing hundreds of masks for first responders and health care providers.
Along the way, someone said “isn’t it amazing to know that a disease meant to keep us apart has brought us so close together.”
Sometime during that crazy, mad morning rush to get everything ready, I heard someone ask our new volunteer what his name was.
“People call me Angel,” he said.
I had to chuckle. A surprise volunteer named Angel.
God is so funny. What a way to remind us that no matter how overwhelming the challenge before us, He’s got this. dscovel@missiongranbury.org
