This past Saturday the Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club and the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ joined together to package 25,000 meals. Meals that will be used in food pantries here in Southwest Florida, and well beyond, including those parts of the country ravaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael.
Close to 100 volunteers of all ages gathered to do the necessary work. One eight-year old was so short that he had to stand on a chair to complete his task of pouring pasta into a funnel to fill plastic bags. Some of the older folks in their seventies and eighties, had to sit down to do their work. Everybody worked hard to reach the common goal of helping folks who needed something to eat get a good, nutritious meal.
And here's the kicker. Several people, kids and adults, told me, "It was so much fun!" How often we think of providing for the needs of others as a duty, as drudgery, as anything but fun. But this work was so well organized by church and club volunteer leaders, and the staff of Meals of Hope, that it proved to be anything but dull! As cases were loaded up and filled with plastic bags of food, cheers would go up from the team responsible for that unit. When milestones like 5,000 meals or 10,000 meals packed were announced, the whole room would erupt in hoorahs!
The work of volunteers helping those in need isn't always fun. But maybe it would be more often if we approached it as a joy and not as a duty. Three cheers for the volunteers this past Saturday!
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