Last Friday was another extremely busy day at the office. By 9:30 am, it had already become one of those grinding days where you spin your wheels trying to get everything done for everybody else but accomplish nothing you need to do. Around 10am, my customs broker called to say US Customs had cleared our coffee shipment in a day instead of the normal three days apparently they need the room for all the toys and merchandise coming in from China to help back fill Santa's orders! She encouraged me to pick it up TODAY plus I didn't want my coffee to be around all that lead paint for too long. Hence, the search for a truck began. After striking out at the U-haul stores, I called my friend Mike to see if I could use one of his vans. Mike, the saint that he is, runs Divine Resources, a ministry that feeds dozens of shelters around metro Atlanta everyday for free. He replied "I am going downtown anyway so I can certainly help you pick up your coffee."
Shortly after, he picked me up in his extended Econoline "Cheech and Chong" van with every inch stuffed with food not to mention milk! Mike stated "Can you believe that Trader Joes gave me 400 gallons of Milk? My immediate response was what are we going to do with 200 gallons of milk? And where are we going to take three tons of food. I started to realize that I shouldn't have told the office I would be back by 2:00!
We stopped at My Sisters Place, an outreach program for homeless mothers and children in downtown Atlanta, where Mike assured me they would take all the food to feed their 85 families. Unfortunately, after we had unloaded 1/3 of the van, their storage was filled up. "Now what?" I asked Mike "we still have 250 gallons of milk and two tons of food?" The director there suggested we go around the corner to their twin shelter- the shelter for homeless men and teenage boys.
We pulled up to My Brother's House and the director actually thought we were pulling his leg about the food until he looked in our van. I will never forget the joy in his eyes! "We haven't had milk in months these guys are going to love you! which was soon followed by . . Unfortunately, we don't have a loading dock so you will have to tote the food down the hall, down the stairs, through the dining hall and back to the kitchen. All this food! -This is truly amazing. Several volunteers and I carried crates of milk and food back to the kitchen. The house guests were gathered in the dining hall -sitting, reading and talking. When they saw all the milk they gave us a standing ovation and more hugs than I can count. Those hugs of joy were overwhelming and all for a glass of milk!
Needless to say, I didn't get home with the coffee until after 9:30 pm but it did not matter! It was truly an amazing day!
This Holiday season please take the time to help out and share with a complete stranger. I'm telling you - you just can't beat those hugs.Even if it is your good friend's idea...
