Being thankful
In the days before Thanksgiving, I'm always reminded about being thankful. We have so many blessings, but a regular family gathering is not among them, although we've had a couple in recent years, thanks to my in-laws, gathering their far-flung relatives together.
It's not a bad thing, it's just the way it is. Growing up, my parents gathered foreign students to come for Thanksgiving, so one memorable Thanksgiving, we had grape leaves stuffed with some sort of meat mixture, brought by a Middle Eastern student. I'm sad to say I remember the dish because I must not have liked it! It certainly wasn't traditional Thanksgiving food.
I've been volunteering with the Y's Healthy Living Pantry distribution again this fall and helped today at a school in West Asheville. It's great to encourage folks to try butternut or spaghetti squash or small delicious multi-hued peppers, but equally rewarding simply not to waste perfectly nice food that's being redistributed through local grocery store/local farm donation channels and the Manna Food Bank (based here in Asheville, but serving Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina).
We're a tolerant and supportive community in Asheville in terms of supporting homeless folks trying to get a better foothold on their future. Coming back from the tire store this morning, we drove by Homeward Bound's outreach site -- I knew about them, but hadn't driven down that street before.
As we live near downtown Asheville, we see homeless folks walking from shelters to where meals can be had, where warm clothes and bedding can be picked up, and know that many are just looking for a place to be during the day.
These are all people with stories.
In Asheville, 45% of the homeless are veterans, 35% have mental health issues, and most are over 25. I hadn't paid much attention to homelessness as a neighborhood issue before moving to Asheville, nor food security, but both are real issues here.
It's always time to be generous.
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| greens from the Southside Community garden harvested last fall |
It's not a bad thing, it's just the way it is. Growing up, my parents gathered foreign students to come for Thanksgiving, so one memorable Thanksgiving, we had grape leaves stuffed with some sort of meat mixture, brought by a Middle Eastern student. I'm sad to say I remember the dish because I must not have liked it! It certainly wasn't traditional Thanksgiving food.
I've been volunteering with the Y's Healthy Living Pantry distribution again this fall and helped today at a school in West Asheville. It's great to encourage folks to try butternut or spaghetti squash or small delicious multi-hued peppers, but equally rewarding simply not to waste perfectly nice food that's being redistributed through local grocery store/local farm donation channels and the Manna Food Bank (based here in Asheville, but serving Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina).
We're a tolerant and supportive community in Asheville in terms of supporting homeless folks trying to get a better foothold on their future. Coming back from the tire store this morning, we drove by Homeward Bound's outreach site -- I knew about them, but hadn't driven down that street before.
As we live near downtown Asheville, we see homeless folks walking from shelters to where meals can be had, where warm clothes and bedding can be picked up, and know that many are just looking for a place to be during the day.
These are all people with stories.
In Asheville, 45% of the homeless are veterans, 35% have mental health issues, and most are over 25. I hadn't paid much attention to homelessness as a neighborhood issue before moving to Asheville, nor food security, but both are real issues here.
It's always time to be generous.
Thank you for a lovely and thoughtful post.
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