I have been homeless. Not once or twice.
I am so incredibly lucky because now I am in a place in my life that I know that unless the world goes completely askew my children will never know what it is like to go without M&M's.
It sounds stupid. But unless you have ever been hungry or homeless M&M's on the counter mean you are safe and secure.
I have good parents. Not great. They are human. My mom did the best she could for us. She made sacrifices even to this day I might not know about. But I remember being young and scared and wondering why I was in this hell hole. I blamed her for things that were beyond her control.
As a mom I now know she did the very best she could. God, I hope she isn't reading this post. Seriously I love her and she was awesome. I just didn't appreciate it at 12 and homeless.
I remember thinking life wasn't worth living. I am so glad I was wrong. I am so freaking glad that my mom was strong and kept our family together despite all odds.
Today there are over 600,000 people who are homeless. There are so many people who are hungry. Scary Mommy has started a program called "The Thanksgiving Project". Her goal is that no family should go Thanksgiving without a meal. Our Church is doing a food drive to the same end. But this is real and timely and more importantly needed.
Have you ever forgone a meal so your child could eat? My mom did. I did so my siblings could. Being hungry, frankly sucks.
Today you have a choice. To give to a family in need. 100% of the proceeds directly goes to a family. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible. If you don't do this, do something locally. I know times are tough. This economy is awful, we are without jobs and scrimping our pennies to get by. Look through your cabinets and decide what you can give to your local food pantry.
We are not hungry. At least I am not. So I am sponsoring a family this year. It is not even November 6th and they have more families than donors. Currently there are 238 families on the wait list.
What are you eating this Thanksgiving?
This year in lieu of gifts my brother and I decided to give a gift or donation to some one else in need. Scott thank you for spending your birthday helping others. I gave the gift of Thanksgiving to a family in honor of your birthday. Love you!
Thanks for sharing your story as someone who has "been there done that." and can write about it from personal experience. This sounds like a great idea to pay something forward at Thanksgiving and help another family out. I will see what I can do for a family in need.
ReplyDeleteThere was a man who came to Indianapolis for some work reason, and while here helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. He asked what happened to the people the rest of the year. When the answer came back, "Nothing" he quit his job and became a "beggar for the poor". Now, there is not only a food pantry passing out food every week, but a community center which provides dinner on Wednesdays, tutoring and a variety of other programs. All because of this one man.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think it is wonderful so many people give at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I pray they also think about the hungry and homeless all year long.
I am sorry you had to go through this as a child.
ReplyDeleteI really love this project and I hope it will be supported by many, many people!
Wow, Kerri. Thank you for sharing such a personal story. You are incredible. And thank you for this post...you really are making the world a better place. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteWhat a poignant post. I've always understood and felt more compassion towards a situation when I knew someone going through it. You put your story out there and you are helping people from it and that is wonderful. We are helping locally this year but Jill's project is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteBest birthday gift ever! Thanks! and love you!
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