The 2nd Annual Combat Hunger has been put to rest, and I can say it was a HUGE success! I must first say thanks to Melissa Eads with Kroger, and all the Clarksville area Kroger store managers for the support of Combat Hunger, as well as the many Girl Scouts who came out Saturday.
Just over a week ago we began collecting non-perishable food items to benefit the food pantry at Urban Ministries. If you are not familiar with Urban Ministries, they are a community organization that seeks to provide whatever assistance an individual or family might need, from food to clothing, to diapers. They make it very easy for people to get assistance, and it is provided immediately.
With unemployment being at an all time high, Urban Ministries has seen the demands for help steadily rise, while donations have tapered off. Many of the people who seek food boxes at Urban Ministries have jobs, but perhaps can only find part-time work, or they are in low-paying jobs that don't even cover the basic necessities of life.
Growing up there were many times I can remember that we did not have food in the house. I personally know the feeling of opening a cupboard and there being nothing there. I once upon a time was one of those children that would watch other kids at lunchtime enviously. In my world, a trip to McDonald's was equal to Charlie's Steak House. That is why this project is so near and dear to my heart.
I am proud to report that thanks to everyone's efforts, on Saturday we collected FIFTEEN grocery carts FULL of food, including fifteen or sixteen turkeys and six or seven hams! That especially was meaningful, as last year Urban Ministries received very few turkeys and hams to give out for Thanksgiving. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting one of the people benefiting from your donations. She is a single mom with three kids that weren't expecting a Thanksgiving dinner or turkey.
Just as we started to unload the director said the lady didn't have a car and would not be able to get back before Thanksgiving, so she let me give her a turkey. When I handed the bird over, the sweet lady dropped to her knees and cried. I was speechless from how it humbled me. Tears filled my eyes, we hugged, and I prayed that God would watch over her and her kids. She said getting that turkey was going just the hope she needed yesterday to keep on going.
It strikes me how the littlest, simplest things we so often take for granted mean so much to someone in need. I can easily go buy my turkey this year, but I'll never forget when I was just like that lady, wondering where the next meal would come from. So I thank each and every one of you that donated from the very bottom of my heart. I thank you for your generosity in trying economic times, and for caring so deeply about your felllow man. I look forward to the 3rd Annual Combat Hunger next year, and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Wall Comes Down
Twenty years ago today I was a senior in high school, and my biggest problems were figuring out what skinny leg jeans to wear crusing on Riverside, and how high did my bangs really need to be. Suffice it to say that I was mostly unaware of the impending end to the Cold War, and the significance of the Berlin Wall coming down.
At that age being politically against anything is considered cool, so sure, me and my friends listened to Pink Floyd's The Wall and pondered what the destruction of the Berlin Wall would mean for us. It was hard to picture what the changes might be, because we had not lived through the most terrifying years of the Cold War, at least not at an age to grasp the concept. I remember hoping it meant that we would never have to face the atrocities of a nuclear war.
Now it's twenty years later, and just how much has changed? Some would say a lot, others not so much. Families seperated by the wall were reunited, and there were celebrations world-wide. It was an occasion to celebrate. But like so many momentous events, once the ticker tape was gone, and the revelers had emptied from the streets not much else was said. Think back to how much the same happened after 9/11. We were all filled with patriotic pride, Democrats and Republicans stood side by side vowing to stand united in the war on terror. We wore flag pins and displayed our patiotism on the windows of our cars.
But before long, the Democrats and Republicans returned to their party lines, the flags once proudly displayed outside homes became faded as our memories of that fateful day. And that is a real shame, for there were many lessons to be learned and not forgotten.
I am reminded of a speech I gave for 4-H in middle school about the divided Germany. Through my research I learned about children who didn't live in a free country like mine. When the wall came down I remembered that speech and thought of the kids I had read about, and their restricted lives. I prayed they would at long last be free, truly free, which I still pray and hope today. My point? Well, I think I have one, which would be that we should not and cannot forget the important lessons in life. We cannot forget what oppression does to the entire world at large. And, most importantly, we cannot forget how far we've come, or where we started from.
At that age being politically against anything is considered cool, so sure, me and my friends listened to Pink Floyd's The Wall and pondered what the destruction of the Berlin Wall would mean for us. It was hard to picture what the changes might be, because we had not lived through the most terrifying years of the Cold War, at least not at an age to grasp the concept. I remember hoping it meant that we would never have to face the atrocities of a nuclear war.
Now it's twenty years later, and just how much has changed? Some would say a lot, others not so much. Families seperated by the wall were reunited, and there were celebrations world-wide. It was an occasion to celebrate. But like so many momentous events, once the ticker tape was gone, and the revelers had emptied from the streets not much else was said. Think back to how much the same happened after 9/11. We were all filled with patriotic pride, Democrats and Republicans stood side by side vowing to stand united in the war on terror. We wore flag pins and displayed our patiotism on the windows of our cars.
But before long, the Democrats and Republicans returned to their party lines, the flags once proudly displayed outside homes became faded as our memories of that fateful day. And that is a real shame, for there were many lessons to be learned and not forgotten.
I am reminded of a speech I gave for 4-H in middle school about the divided Germany. Through my research I learned about children who didn't live in a free country like mine. When the wall came down I remembered that speech and thought of the kids I had read about, and their restricted lives. I prayed they would at long last be free, truly free, which I still pray and hope today. My point? Well, I think I have one, which would be that we should not and cannot forget the important lessons in life. We cannot forget what oppression does to the entire world at large. And, most importantly, we cannot forget how far we've come, or where we started from.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Lesson Learned from Charlie Brown
The Halloween holiday has come and gone, the Tootsie Rolls are sticking to the carpet in the kid's rooms, and the skeleton's and spider webs have been packed away for another year. This year when I pack up my Halloween decorations, I will keep with me a lesson learned from none other than Charlie Brown.
Every year my kids and I wait for "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to air. It's part of our Halloween tradition. We snuggle in my bed, pop some popcorn and watch the Peanuts Gang trick or treat and wait for the Great Pumpkin.
As we were watching it this year, and let's face it, many of us can nearly quote the whole thing start to finish, I was struck by how much cartoons have changed, and, how newer cartoons don't have the staying power of Charlie Brown. Charles Shultz tapped into something special with his cartoons for kids that are filled with adult satire.
What I noticed first was how calm and quiet the Charlie brown cartoons are. Compared to something like say, Spongebob, it was refreshing to see animation that didn't include a character running around screaming his head off, or trying to figure out why his square pants fell down. There is no sexual innuendo like you find in modern animation. The colors were vibrant, the story lines simple, and most importantly, they were appealing to young and old alike.
Maybe I'm reading too much into Shultz's intentions, but as my adult eye took in the story, I noticed what I believe to be a lot of adult humor and satire. For instance, when the kids gather to go trick or treating, all their costumes are basically the same, white sheets, but yet each person is still recognizable by their individual traits. Their masks seemed symbolic, Lucy wearing a Witch face, Charlie Brown's born loser-ish sheet full of holes, Pig Pen's constant dust cloud around him. In my opinion this is representative of society, how deep down we're pretty much the same, but the little things make us recognizable.
Even the class system seems to come into play, as evidenced by the fact that while the other kids get treats, Lucy even gets candy for Linus who is sitting in the pumpkin patch, Charlie Brown gets rocks, one after another. This could be a statement about how we as a society give to others based on our perceptions of how deserving they are, and in many cases class plays part and parcel to that.
Then there's Linus, so hopeful, so confident in his belief in the Great Pumpkin. He's willing to be called an idiot while he stands by what he believes, even when there's no viable reason for him to do so. Charlie Brown's little sister becomes enraged with Linus when she feels duped into missing out on tricks and treats. Oh, how many times in our own adult relationships have we as women felt cheated, or as men how often have you felt that nothing was enough?
I think there is much to be learned from the Peanuts Gang. First, it's how to make a cartoon that is funny, entertaining, and enduring, without making one feel as if they need a trip to the nearest mental health facility after watching, or that as a parent I don't have to censor because of adult innuendo. Second, cartoons can be more than light entertainment, they can be a statement of our society then and now, and provide a glimpse into what and who we are. So sometime this week, take a moment and spend it with the Peanuts Gang, you might learn or see something you didn't expect!
Every year my kids and I wait for "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to air. It's part of our Halloween tradition. We snuggle in my bed, pop some popcorn and watch the Peanuts Gang trick or treat and wait for the Great Pumpkin.
As we were watching it this year, and let's face it, many of us can nearly quote the whole thing start to finish, I was struck by how much cartoons have changed, and, how newer cartoons don't have the staying power of Charlie Brown. Charles Shultz tapped into something special with his cartoons for kids that are filled with adult satire.
What I noticed first was how calm and quiet the Charlie brown cartoons are. Compared to something like say, Spongebob, it was refreshing to see animation that didn't include a character running around screaming his head off, or trying to figure out why his square pants fell down. There is no sexual innuendo like you find in modern animation. The colors were vibrant, the story lines simple, and most importantly, they were appealing to young and old alike.
Maybe I'm reading too much into Shultz's intentions, but as my adult eye took in the story, I noticed what I believe to be a lot of adult humor and satire. For instance, when the kids gather to go trick or treating, all their costumes are basically the same, white sheets, but yet each person is still recognizable by their individual traits. Their masks seemed symbolic, Lucy wearing a Witch face, Charlie Brown's born loser-ish sheet full of holes, Pig Pen's constant dust cloud around him. In my opinion this is representative of society, how deep down we're pretty much the same, but the little things make us recognizable.
Even the class system seems to come into play, as evidenced by the fact that while the other kids get treats, Lucy even gets candy for Linus who is sitting in the pumpkin patch, Charlie Brown gets rocks, one after another. This could be a statement about how we as a society give to others based on our perceptions of how deserving they are, and in many cases class plays part and parcel to that.
Then there's Linus, so hopeful, so confident in his belief in the Great Pumpkin. He's willing to be called an idiot while he stands by what he believes, even when there's no viable reason for him to do so. Charlie Brown's little sister becomes enraged with Linus when she feels duped into missing out on tricks and treats. Oh, how many times in our own adult relationships have we as women felt cheated, or as men how often have you felt that nothing was enough?
I think there is much to be learned from the Peanuts Gang. First, it's how to make a cartoon that is funny, entertaining, and enduring, without making one feel as if they need a trip to the nearest mental health facility after watching, or that as a parent I don't have to censor because of adult innuendo. Second, cartoons can be more than light entertainment, they can be a statement of our society then and now, and provide a glimpse into what and who we are. So sometime this week, take a moment and spend it with the Peanuts Gang, you might learn or see something you didn't expect!
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