The Empty Fridge- the rest of the story

It's always about so much more than just the food. And it's always about the difference one person can make.

Pulling up to Mrs. G's home just days after delivering her produce for the week, we came with bags of groceries for her and her four-legged companions. Thanks to the generosity of one donor, who responded to the the original Facebook post about Mrs. G., Pie in the Sky made a surprise visit to a grateful senior citizen.

As we unpacked the groceries, she stood in her kitchen, her hand over her mouth in disbelief, tears of joy and gratitude in her eyes. When we opened the freezer, which we had not seen before, the stark reality of her circumstances slammed us like a brick; the freezer was bare. There was nothing, nothing in it. Not for long, as we carefully placed the food inside and the freezer filled up, so did our grateful hearts.

The generosity of the Friends of Pie made my heart swell with pride and gratitude. The donor who came forward asked only two things; that the donation go toward the Weaver Challenge Grant and to buy food for Mrs. G. We were happy to comply and now we have double the donation to help fill in the cracks not only for Mrs. G. but for the other elders in our community that have empty fridges', too.

Yes, there is sadness in the job we do. Seeing lonely, hungry senior citizens, our neighbors, in need. But there is joy, because of you, we are able to see the gratitude on the faces of many Mrs. G's, when we deliver food and have the opportunity to turn an empty fridge into a full one. 

We are all in this together and together we can, and we are, making a difference in the lives of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. And, as I mentioned in the beginning, it's about so much more than just food. It's about the sense of community when we all work together to help those in need and it's about hope. When we deliver food to 182 Mrs. G's, we are not just delivering tomatoes and cabbage, we are delivering that sense of community as well. We are letting all of these folks know that they matter and that there are people out here that care about them. And with that compassion that we deliver, they feel not just grateful, but hopeful. And that is huge.

And on this day, in a tidy little mobile home, at the end of a deserted dirt road, right in the middle of St. Augustine, that most folks don't even know exists, hope was alive and well.

My only wish is that you could have seen her face when we pulled out a bag of cookies, a luxury that she could never have dreamed she would have.

"Cookies," she said, with tears freely flowing down her cheeks. "I love cookies."

From Mrs. G. and from all of us at Pie in the Sky, thank you for sharing the post and thank you to Mrs.G's generous benefactor. For now, for her, all is right with the world.
#nomoreemptyfridge

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