Food For Families

Today, I was a part of Food for Families, an effort that brings together a room full of people to make sandwiches and meal packages to feed hungry families in New York City. I have done this before, each time with one or more of my children. It can be challenging sometimes to buy the requisite supplies (5 loaves of bread and 16 pieces of fruit per person, which was a lot when I was out of work, but wanted to take all three kids). It can be challenging sometimes to make hundreds of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without returning home covered in the sticky stuff. Yet, along with many other families, we get past the challenges of time or money or comfort, and in a two hour period, we generate about a thousand meal packages, each consisting of sandwiches, snacks, and a drink.
 
Obviously, we can't fix the situation for people who are hungry every day. But one day each month, hundreds of people--adults and children, I imagine, get a little something extra, courtesy of our room full of people.
 
While I am sure that the title "Food For Families" came from the idea that the effort was actually feeding hungry families, what I have seen over my years participating is that the "families" part is on the giving end as well as the receiving. Food For Families has become a place where people bring their kids, whether the kids are five or fifteen. Whether the children are capable of making sandwiches or following a list to fill meal bags or simply just bagging the cookies to include, they have a real role in the 1000 meals. Whatever their age, they learn that when families work together, families benefit.
 
In a weekend filled with the mundane tasks that keep my own family running, I am glad I took a few hours, with part of my family, to help keep some other families running too. It may have done more for me and my kids than a refrigerator full of fresh food and drawers full of clean laundry.