This is the first time EVER I have asked anyone to be a guest blogger.  I asked my Sister Nancy to write because she is doing really important work on feeding people in her community.  This is a longer than usual blog, but do read through to the end, especially if you live in South Florida.

Also keep in mind for those of you living in Vegas, Restaurant Week begins on Friday!  It’s one of my fave times of the year and I get to feed people by dining out.

And now a word from my Sister:

As some of you may know, I am Good for Spooning’s favorite sister.  I’m sure she has mentioned it to you on several occasions on how much she loves me and wishes that I lived in Las Vegas.  So it is no surprise that I am her first ever Guest Blogger on her new website!

All joking aside — I am very humbled and excited to get this opportunity.  The real reason I am the first Guest Blogger is that LeAnne asked me to write a little something about the an event called Serve the City being coordinated by No Perfect People, Inc., which is the not-for-profit where I work.  This is our third Serve the City, and for this time around, NPPI has partnered with 22 other non-profit organizations to create over 1,100 volunteer opportunities at 30 events — all held on Saturday, March 8, 2014!  It’s like a service project on steroids!  Our partners are international, domestic, and local organizations providing a variety of services which include providing affordable housing to the elderly, a food pantry, a home for teen moms, providing services to the blind, and a day shelter for the homeless.  The program provides an on-ramp for our volunteers to experience the joy of service to others.

In that this is a food blog, I want to focus on Feeding the People!!  We have a bunch of events scheduled where food is the at the center of the service project:

• We will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Broward Partnership for the Homeless (a homeless shelter) and at Ronald McDonald House;
• Lunches will be served at a low-income assisted living facility, a foster care home, at a respite day for foster kids, and at a shelter for domestic violence victims and their families;
• Volunteers will sort food at Feeding South Florida (part of the Feeding America network);
• Dinner and a worship service will be held for women in an in-treatment addiction facility;
• A busload of folks will be gleaning (a biblical initiative that involves volunteers picking produce from farmers’ fields that have been left from commercial harvesting methods which is then distributed through a food pantry);
• Families will be planting a vegetable garden for a food pantry; and
• We will take a collection of items for an emergency food pantry at our night-before Rally from the volunteers.

These events don’t even include the hundreds of volunteers we will feed that day because they are serving where they aren’t feeding the people!

That’s a lot of meals!

On a personal level, food is a big deal.  I never feel right unless I have food in the house.  Those who know me know you can show me you love me by feeding me.  Even when we have been on the tightest budget, food was not something that we trimmed very much, except through coupons or sale shopping.  It is too much of a comfort knowing we will survive another day when all else points to the opposite.  I think that is why I connect with people over food — because to me it has more value than just nourishment.

And I think that is why we learned in planning our previous Serve the City events that  (1) people love to feed people, and (2) we can’t have enough opportunities to provide a meal because as fast as we create the opportunity, it fills.  It could be that people feel the same way I do and they want to share that with others or may it is just a practical way — a visible way — to connect.  And we all know we have to eat.  We all can either remember what true hunger feels like or we are scared to know.

Initially, we underestimated how much people liked to feed people, so this time we tried to find multiple opportunities to provide meals in our community.  The result is that the above events will provide thousands of people with food in our community in some form or fashion not just for that day but for the weeks to come.

A second benefit to serving the hungry in our community is the impact on the volunteer.  Studies have shown that volunteering has surprising benefits, including making new friends, battling depression, and increasing your social skills.  Read more here:  http://www.helpguide.org/life/volunteer_opportunities_benefits_volunteering.htm

Because of these reasons, the impact is HUGE — both for those we service and for the volunteer!!

This is the third Serve the City event I have had the pleasure of working on for NPPI, and each time, I am blessed beyond measure.  One of my favorite things to do is to help people find just the right service project for his/her talents, skills, and experience.

How can you help?  What can you do to help feed a family that might be in a totally different time zone from where you are living?  How can I serve my community?

I’m so glad you asked!!  You can help by donating — either sponsoring a meal (for one of the above listed events or for our volunteers) or just to help out with supplies and equipment or helping us buy an emergency food box for the pantry.  Click here to make a donation!  http://nppinc.org/donation.php

And if you want to serve here in South Florida, click this link (http://cbglades.com/events/servethecity/) to see the available opportunities for Serve the City!!

I have never been so proud to be a part of an organization as I am with NPPI.  The work that I get to do is rewarding on a level that words come short of expressing.  I hope you will join me in Serving the City!