Be intentional in your giving - everyone is worthy

Today I read an article on the Internet about a woman who had experienced deep poverty in her younger years and she explained how it defined her as an adult. She shared a life changing event that may have saved her life and most certainly that of her mother. You can read that story here.
I’m a Little Too Fat, a Little Too Giving. I Think I Know Why.

Her story resonated with me for two reasons. First because although the details are different, but my own life story has similarities and second because I once had an opportunity to influence some young minds about giving and stereotypes. 

In my career as an executive director of small rural not for profits, I once had the privilege of managing an organization that operated a food bank as part of its array of services. Like many food banks we would participate in and be the grateful recipients of community food drives. You know the kind, where girl guides or hockey teams or schools would collect food for the local food bank. Usually around Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter, because for some reason people don't appreciate that hunger is year round and not just when the season encourages you to be generous. But that is another story!

This time I was invited to attend the school that was mounting the food drive to speak to the classes about the food bank. I chose to accept the invitation and I visited every class from kindergarten to grade 8.  I was happy to attend and share some insight with the students about the kind of person/family who utilised the food bank. Why they needed it and what kind of products we were asking for. I did this because I noticed when people were asked to give to the food bank during a food drive, they frequently were unprepared and usually went to the back of the cupboard and donated something they either didn't like, or the can was dented and they wouldn't use it or because they thought it something that a person who needed the food bank would need to eat because it was good for them.  Like brown beans. "it's high in protein, and fiber, it will be good for them".

In the classroom discussion I asked the students to close their eyes and imagine with me that it was Monday morning and we had just opened to doors for our first client. I asked them to tell me what they thought that person looked like. I was astonished that almost class by class regardless of grade, the most common type of answer was that " they had ratty clothes and smelled bad because they didn't wash themselves." We had really great discussions about hygiene and why that might be the case with people in poverty. There is so much more I could share about that experience but it not relevant to this story. What is relevant, is that when it came time to talk about what to bring to the food drive I told them that without looking, I knew what they had already collected in the classroom cupboard. I said I would find mostly brown beans and Kraft dinner and dented cans of food and weird stuff that they didn't like to eat. It was indeed what was there, in every classroom. It was also what you would find on our food bank shelves, because for some reason that is what people thought they should donate. For your parents it was also a good way to clean out the kitchen cupboard of old food they had purchased but never got around to eating in that fancy dish they were always planning to make.  Grimy, dusty, tinned food. It made them feel good to clean out the cupboard and also donate to the 'needy'. Most of us can relate to this.

"The biggest problem with poverty is the shame that comes with it. When you give the best you have to someone in need, it translates into something much deeper to the receiver. It means they are worthy." Kristine Levine

Here was an opportunity to educate and influence young minds to give with intention, a generous spirit and thought. I asked them what their favourite foods were. What is your favourite cereal? Did you like crunchy or smooth peanut butter? Do you have a fun toothpaste you liked, or a shampoo that you loved and made your hair feel good? (Remember that conversation about poor people and hygiene?) I asked them to go with their parents to the store and choose the favourite thing they loved and to donate that to the food drive. We have freezers so you can donate frozen pizza if you love that. Maybe pop tarts are the best breakfast for you. If you get permission from your parents, this is your personal challenge. Children just like you don't have enough to eat, but they like the same things you do! So bring us your favourite foods, and you will not only feed someone who needs it, but they will love it just like you.







What transpired next still has the power to bring me to tears. The school plan was to form a human food chain, that started at the school and ended at the fire hall where all the food was to be collected and then delivered to the food bank. I went to the fire hall and the teachers there encouraged me to 'walk the line' because there was something I needed to see. So I went out. I recall it was a beautiful fall day, warm and sunny so everyone was participating outside. As I made my way down the line students stopped me to tell me what they brought. 'Ms. Payne, my favourite cereals are Froot Loops and Lucky Charms so my mom bought that for me to bring", I love sparkly gel toothpaste so I brought that today", "Look Ms. Payne I brought crunchy peanut butter and canned tuna because I love them!" I wept.

my favourite cereal is....

Our food bank had not looked so good, so diverse, so complete in a long time. We had variety and volume of food we never got to see. And for a long time after, through community communication and conversation, we continued to see wonderful foods that actually appealed to our clients, populate our shelves.




The message to our students was this. People in poverty don't just deserve the cheapest thing you can find in the cupboard, they deserve the best you can give, because they are worthy. Because they are just like you in the most important ways.

Be intentional in your generosity. Be thoughtful, kind and caring every day.