Every Tuesday night the tiny Baptist church in Islamorada serves dinner to whomever wanders through the door. A different group brings the main dish every week. Last week it was the firemen, today the ladies of the Catholic church. Restaurants of the area donate leftover food, which someone picks up. Some of us SOWERs have also wandered in to help them serve. Today a lady approached Terry, whom she already knew by name. "We have a "project, " she said, and off they went to see what it was. Terry and a muscular SOWER friend ended up moving some old furniture to the dumpster, and clearing out a room. They really worked for their supper. Mona and I served salad; later we chatted with a woman who had moved to the keys from Peru 15 years ago, when economic conditions were bad there. Now she sees exactly the same trend in America.
In the picture the pastor is getting ready to ask the blessing for the food. He spoke for about 2 minutes on a quote from the Bible. We women smiled at each other; it was just what we had studied at the Women to Women Bible study last week. The pastor's message was just right, as people's minds were on dinner anyway. A black man played the guitar and sang in the corner, mostly Frank Sinatra and songs in Spanish. Mona and I cheered him along and clapped from the salad bar. At a designated time, people were allowed to heap up take- home containers of food, and choose from other donated foods such as vegetables, fruit, and baked goods. That table cleared out quickly, as people stuffed their shopping bags. It was evident that people counted on this food to last them a few days. As we were leaving, a couple of us still managed to bring home a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread. Somehow that had been overlooked. It's great for toast in the morning! The multitude went away satisfied for another week.
No comments:
Post a Comment