“A hungry man can’t see right or wrong. He just sees food.”

— Pearl S. Buck

A few months ago, a church here on the west side of Portland was faced with the real possibility that it would have to end it’s free meal service due to shrinking budgets.

I’d like to tell you, that a donor came through and the project was saved. Instead, it has shut down.

I heard this from the pastor at the True Life church, Fred, where I volunteered again today. My heart sank a little.

A few cans which will become a meal for someone soon.

The good news though is that Fred’s church is going to be starting a monthly meal service to help offset the loss. He told me that they are going to try to do it solely with donated food from the Oregon Food bank so that they won’t be faced with the same budget problems that befell the other church.

It’s not a complete solution. It’ll take time for the new service to get the kinks worked out. The larger challenge though is that it’ll take time for the people who need a hot meal to find out about it, if they can even get to the new location.

When many of us think about our evening dinner plans, we have the choice between making something at home or going out to a restaurant. We might choose between Italian, Mexican or Chinese food. We may choose to have dessert or an appetizer.

Those aren’t the kind of choices you get to make when you’re hungry. You eat where a meal is provided and you eat what you’re served. When you’re hungry, most everything else comes second.

I hope the True Life will succeed in it’s new endeavor and I’ll try to post more information as I hear it. If you know someone that is food insecure and lives in the Beaverton, Oregon area please let them know that this will soon be another option.

Volunteered to help restock a food pantry with food from the Oregon Food Bank during my lunch hour.