When my daughter was little – maybe 7 years old – her school participated in a food drive. The class that had the most donations got doughnuts. Well, I mean, who doesn’t love doughnuts? So when she came home and asked if we could go shopping, I, of course, told her that we could. I live in Thomasville – a pretty small place – and I have been shopping at the same store (food lion by business 85 – woot woot!) for over a decade. They’ve definitely seen me in my pajamas. Anyway, we trekked off to the store in search of good giveable items – things that wouldn’t expire quickly and wouldn’t take too many extra ingredients to make a meal. And lots of treats, too, because just because you are struggling doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to eat stuff that tastes good!
So picture it. She is 7 and I’m … well… sort of a grown up. And we are skipping through the store somewhat like crazy people and shouting at each other every few minutes – why are we shopping!?!?!?!? And responding in unison “because everyone deserves to eat!!” Now, I have made my presence known at that grocery store a time or two when a debit card didn’t go through and I picked up the tab, or a particularly exhausted cashier needed a pick-me-up gift card, or when I went five times in a day because company was in town and I forgot something in my effort to cook to impress. But this was the first time my daughter got to act like a silly (but generous) fool and I really ate it up (see what I did there!).
After that, we decided to make it our mission to do what we could to support Second Harvest Food Bank as a couple of girls just wanting to make sure that everyone got to eat. Each month I would write the check and she would address the envelope and put it in the mail box and put the little red flag up. We would take that time to talk about the fact that life can be cruel and unpredictable and we should help while we could in hopes that the favor would be returned should we ever need it.
Lewis & Keller Gives Back to Second Harvest
And that brings us to today. This season we have been able to channel those efforts into something even bigger. In addition to the monthly donation that my girl and I will be sure to deliver, Lewis & Keller is challenging our neighbors to make their own contribution to the cause we believe in so passionately.
On Dec. 8, we will be matching every dollar donated up to $10,000 for this incredible charity.
Second Harvest not only deals with direct relief by feeding hungry people every single day, but they are also actively involved in building an infrastructure that is focused on eliminating food insecurity at the root. Their efforts to pull our neighbors out of poverty and build on more than just direct relief is only one of the reasons we love the work they do.
If you are able, we encourage you to join us at Lewis & Keller in supporting our community. And if you aren’t, please know that we truly hope our donation will provide you the help you need to feed your family, and we know you will see better days to come.
Because, no matter what, everyone deserves to eat.
You can donate here: https://www.secondharvestnwnc.org/donate
