pick up
▲Willie (facing the camera) volunteers at the "Daily Bread" food bank out of gratitude and gives back, and also earns extra food for his church.
what's for dinner? "This is what the whole family is most concerned about when they return home. Food is the most important thing for the people!
"Eat pizza!" the children cheered in unison! My husband saw this delicious and popular pizza and asked, "Where can I buy it?"
"Picked it off the edge of the trash can!"
A friend who works at an airport fast food restaurant brought me two large boxes of fresh pizza leftover from the day's sale. A piece of pizza originally cost three or four dollars, but by ordering a little, I saved at least fifty dollars today. According to friends, sometimes he was too late to save people and watched helplessly as the trash can was filled with large boxes of pizza.
During my childhood, my parents recited "Poetry of Compassion for Farmers" written by Li Shen of the Tang Dynasty at the dinner table: "At noon on the day of hoeing, the sweat drips from the soil, but who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard work." Teach their children Eat the last grain of rice in the bowl. Once upon a time, the food was spoiled to such an extent!
Shocking
In the United States, starting from ordinary people's kitchens, small restaurants, large restaurants to supermarkets, 96.4 billion pounds of all kinds of food are wasted every year, accounting for 27% of the total food. On average, each person wastes one pound of food every day. Food; not only Americans, but according to surveys, the British throw away one-third of the food they buy; in Sweden, especially families with small children, one-quarter of the food is thrown away1; and in Hong Kong, Up to 3,000 tonnes of food are wasted every year2.
The edible portion of these grains is still considerable. Unfortunately, merchants are afraid of donating it, making people suffer from problems and getting into lawsuits, so they would rather abandon the matter. Look at their garbage trucks. What is piled up is not leftovers, but untouched lasagna, bananas with small spots, slightly bruised apples, and uneven bread. , endless supply of overnight donuts, and overstocked milk, vegetables, and cereals that have no place to stock... What a waste of money!
There are many poor countries around the world where people are starving to death due to lack of food, people are rioting collectively, and pirates are robbing. Even in the United States, which is known as a wealthy country, there are still 13 million poor children who need emergency relief food from food banks to survive every year. In South Florida alone, there are 295,000 children living below the poverty line. How many children are going to bed hungry tonight?
Food environmental protection
A food bank is, simply put, a warehouse where "you throw it away and I pick it up". Major cities in the United States have a "food bank" system. They contract with manufacturers, supermarkets, restaurants, and restaurants to transfer overproduced, mislabeled, incompletely packaged, defective products, food that is about to expire, and unsold food. Food... is rescued from the edge of the trash bin, recovered (Recover), recycled (Recycle), sorted, repackaged, and distributed to those in need for reuse (Reuse).
President Clinton signed the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act in 1996 to protect donor businesses that handle food according to normal procedures from defendant 4.
The Daily Bread Food Bank (Daily Bread) is the largest food bank in Florida. It was established in 1981 with the mission of reducing hunger by reducing food waste. Currently, "Daily Food" has three delivery centers in South Florida. The food sources 40% all rely on Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the country, and the rest depends on local food factories, wholesalers, and retailers. There are also donations from supermarkets like Publix and Winn Dixie.
Daily Bread provides 1.5 million pounds of food each month through more than 800 nonprofit partners such as churches, soup kitchens, juvenile shelters, battered women's shelters, and food pantries. 5 for those who are hungry.
Volunteer Angel
The author recently went to Palm Beach, South Florida, to visit one of the delivery centers of "Daily Food". I saw seven or eight people queuing up in front of the office of Operations Director Darryl Clardy. People are coming into the center one after another, all of whom are recipients who come to express their gratitude and serve as volunteers.
There is a brother Willie, who is thin and dry, with a smile on his face. He, his daughter and five grandchildren once received the help of "Daily Bread" through the church. He came to volunteer and accumulate credit shopping points for his church. For every hour he helped, he earned a little, and his church received ten pounds of food in addition to the rationed food. Willie and his staff unloaded the heavy food boxes from the truck and moved them into the warehouse. They asked him, "Can you handle such a heavy work?" He grinned and said calmly, "With God, there is no difficulty. It’s done!” That’s it, absolutely right.
In addition, a mother and son were unloading goods. Their son Jordan was a high school student. He made homemade flyers and distributed them to neighbors near his home. He went to different communities every week to ask people to donate leftover food. Then, they collect it from house to house every week and send back "daily food". The mother-son partnership is in its fifth year.
Dai Luo led me to his office. There were boxes of cargo documents on the floor, waiting for someone to help file them. While he was explaining the ins and outs of "daily rations", he was checking his cell phone that was constantly ringing. During the process, workers occasionally interrupted to ask about things. He was extremely busy, and it was obvious that he was understaffed.
General groups also support the ministry of "Daily Bread" in various ways. For example, the Hard Rock Café donated exquisite paper bags and various candies, and the principal of an elementary school led teachers and students to sell goods at "Daily Bread". Candies are packed in the warehouse and distributed to children from poor families before Easter. At the Miami Daily Bread warehouse, YWCA members fill children’s backpacks with food every Friday so they don’t go hungry on weekends and holidays. The reward for these people who silently do good deeds will be great in heaven.
Every year, May 9th is National Food Drive Day. When delivering letters, the postman takes the donated cans of dry food placed next to the mailbox back to the post office, and then delivers them to the local food bank in a special car. Wal-Mart is also a co-sponsor of National Food Drive Day. That day, "Daily Food" and the warehouses of food banks across the United States were piled high. Dai Luo hoped that God would send twelve battalions of "angels" to help him. It would take about sixty days to process and distribute the food.
▲This Good Samaritan, sculpted by Sicard and erected in the Tuileries Garden in Paris, France, reminds the world to extend a helping hand of mercy to those who are suffering in a timely manner.
social care
God has truly blessed the Chinese living in the United States. Most of us have enough food and clothing and live a comfortable life. However, Chinese people usually pay little attention to what is happening in the community and lack interest in participating. Bill Gates, ranked the world's richest man by Forbes, and stock investor Warren Buffet return most of their money back to society. What can the Chinese give back to this society that provides us with a free and prosperous life?
As I write this, my thoughts have already settled on another starting point to build a dream - one day I will definitely call the group of sisters who don't work during the day to move their position from the Starbucks coffee shop to the "Daily Food" warehouse. Some people put labels, some pack food, some help with archiving, and some move and store goods. Everyone does their best and performs their duties, talking and doing, laughing and talking: when you have the opportunity, you should ask those in need of the poor (see Galatians 6:10). The Bible also says:“Whoever shows mercy to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay him for his good deed.” (Proverbs 19:17)
References
1. One Country's Table Scraps, Another Country's Meal, New York Times, May 18, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html?partner=rssnyt
2. http://www.creationtimes.com/content.php?id=1886
3. Children(A Language We All Speak), Brochure of Daily Bread Food Bank
4. http://www.usda.gov/news/pubs/gleaning/seven.htm
5. http://www.dailybread.org/
Video Sharing: Chicken Meal
(Chicken a la Carte)
Berlin International Film Festival award-winning short film, 6 minutes long.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte
The true story of a group of people who have been forgotten by society and rely on garbage to survive. Their faith and hope are thought-provoking.
Author profile
Liu Shuman, from Taiwan. Hearing the call from heaven, he devoted himself to the ministry of the written word. Now she lives in Florida with her husband Kim Kang-in and their three children, and participates in the church’s children’s Sunday school ministry.