The Cupboards Are Bare

Yikes.

It’s the dreaded empty shelf. The cupboards are bare at Columbia Community Care.

FOOD DONATIONS NEEDED PLEASE!!

At the end of this piece I’ve included the complete post from April Lee of Columbia Community Care, which includes a link if you would like to make a monetary contribution. (Designate Hunger Relief.)

Right now I want to tell you a story. This summer I looked at the increasing need at Columbia Community Care and felt a sense of foreboding. As Ms. Lee writes in her message, “These are difficult times right now for so many and, sadly, they will most likely get worse.” I looked at the need. I looked at my budget. I struggled with my anxiety about “running out of money.”

I looked at the things I pay for every month. Were any of them expendable? Well…one. My subscription to the Baltimore Banner, which had recently increased. Supporting local journalism is important. But I held the thought of hungry neighbors in one hand and the Banner in the other hand. 

There had to be a way.

I could access the news articles through the library if I needed to. But there was no such option for feeding the hungry in my community. I canceled my subscription to the Banner and set up a monthly donation to Columbia Community Care. 

I’m not sharing this because I want a sticker or because I want to brag about what a good person I am. I’m using my experience to make a suggestion. You see, I saw a friend mention that their family donates monthly and this absolutely influenced my decision. Up until that point I had never considered it because I was sure I couldn’t afford to.

I could. I had to reset my priorities, but: I absolutely could.

There’s a nagging voice inside of me about a verse in the Book of Matthew about not boasting of one’s charitable acts. That’s why I’ve put off writing this piece. But then I saw the post from Columbia Community Care. So here I am. 

It’s simple. Maybe you’ll read this and find your own way to help. 

We have folks in our community who have been in a financial position to give who may now need support. Others may have very little to give and still make a way to contribute and participate. The community care model means we all care for eachother.

Find a way. Make a way. Be a way.

A funny postscript to all this is that it did not take very long for the Baltimore Banner to send me a Please Resubscribe offer for one year at a teeny tiny price. I don’t know whether or not that was a sign, but I did take the offer. 

Village Green/Town² Comments 

From April Lee, Columbia Community Care:

These are pics I took this morning of the shelf units for each of our Saturday distribution sites at Long Reach, Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake. We need all three of these shelves to be filled top to bottom in order for us to have enough to open sites next weekend. These are difficult times right now for so many and, sadly, they will most likely get worse. If you are able to, would you please help us restock our inventory? The most needed items right now are: Canned proteins (tuna, chicken, Spam, black beans, red beans, pinto beans), peanut butter, jelly, ramen, pasta sauce, spaghetti noodles, breakfast cereals, mac & cheese, rice, and baby wipes. 

Donations can be made via our Amazon wishlist (link in comments) or you can drop off non-perishable goods in one of CCC's collection bins at Bethel Korean Presbyterian Church in Ellicott City, Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, or BA Autocare. Donations may also be dropped off at our pantry Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 2pm or Saturdays from 9:30am to 12pm. Monetary donations (link in comments) are also desperately needed so that we can purchase pantry items which are not donated (fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, chicken, etc.).

Thank you, in advance, to this incredible community. Your continuing support of CCC's work through these tough times is such a blessing to us and to our neighbors in need. You make all the difference in this world in the best ways.