Matthew 25:35-36 - New International Version Bible
I am an atheist, I make no bones about that. I do not believe in Gods or deities, I believe in the power of human beings, the power of people to forge our own futures and shape our own destinies. For the longest time, I disregarded the Christian Church as a long antiquated organization with out sized power in our political system. During the haughty days of the Bush Administration, I truly believed that the Christian Church had done themselves in by hitching their wagons to the two biggest warmongers in history and completely disregarding the written word of the person they claim to follow.Back then, suffice it to say, I was ignorant. I was an ignorant atheist who thought he had the intellectual high ground on these believers. And, to be honest, that is the way things were for the longest time. Those people were wrong and I was smug about it. All I saw was the hate and human indignity out of the mouths of those loud mouthed "pious" few who think they are closer to God than anyone else, and took that to be the collective opinion of "Christians" rather than investigate further.
In the Winter of 2010 my fiancee and I hit hard times. There were times when we would look into our cupboards and see a whole lot of nothing staring back at us. Back then we were both students living off of financial aid, when money ran out around the middle of month three, we had to live as bare and lean as we could until our finances refreshed. We just barely kept the roof over our heads.
The Keizer Community Food Bank was the only organization, besides SNAP, that kept us afloat that year. In fact, I wrote a diary about the whole ordeal back during Christmas of 2010 called "On Being Poor". It was a hard summer that summer, and little did I know, I was still right in the middle of a hard winter.
KCFB was there when we needed them. We got food boxes, they gave us gift cards, I believe we even got sweaters from them that year. Suffice it to say, we would have been a whole lot hungrier without them.
Little by little we dug out of our financial mess, and got into even more financial messes then dug ourselves out again. During lean times, we could count on the Food Bank to help us, not judge, and just help. My fiancee was so impressed she volunteered with them for a year, and my mother in law has been volunteering for them for 10 years.
To be sure, these are Christians that are walking the walk. And slowly, by knowing them (and taking a few Western Religions classes), I understood that my impression of Christianity was formed by years of the loudest of loudmouths bloviating on television, and not by actual Christians out there doing actual good. I still claim Atheism as position regarding deities and Gods, but my understanding of the people in my community who are believers has changed 100%. These are the people going out and shaping our future, forging our destiny. They aren't relying on "God" or "prayer" for the answers. They are relying on themselves, and the people around them. They see themselves as having two coats, and follow Gods command to share their coat with someone who doesn't have one. They are really living the biblical passage I quoted above. And in that way, they have changed my view of Christianity. It isn't an antiquated institution, it can and is used as a force for good and positive change in communities.
Long story short -- some Christians may be unlike their Christ, but they are often the loudest and most obnoxious ones. The ones that should be talking aren't; they are out in the world with their hands in the dirt, volunteering and following their Christ.
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I must admit, there is a reason why I am writing this diary.
On Tuesday, the Director of the Keizer Community Food Bank was talking with my mother in law, who is the Spanish speaking representative for the Food Bank. He was saying that the Food Bank is running out of food and can no longer maintain the service levels that they once were at. My mother in law asked me to help think of ways to fund raise for the food bank and I though I might use my reputation here to get the word out about the need level in Keizer.
Generally, KCFB serves about 1100 people a month. Somewhere around 40-45 families show up every week at Faith Lutheran Church because they, or their kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, cousins, people they live with and know; need food. 450 children a month are served by the Keizer Food Bank, and 750 adults. Not only does the food bank hand out food, they also give out school supplies, personal hygiene supplies, pet food etc to those in need.
Now, they are cutting back services because they just cannot sustain the amount of people that need food and other supplies. Last week just 30 people cleaned the pantry out and they were not sure how they were going to re-stock. In fact, the Director sent this picture to my mother in law about the problem --
This was the pantry on Thursday last week. Besides mayo and pasta sauce, its completely bare. They have tried to fund raise, but have found various roadblocks impeding them. Another problem that the Director of the foodbank and my mother in law were discussing was the fact that donations have basically fallen off of a cliff in recent months, while the need has stayed constant if not increased a little bit in summer. They are starting to worry about the Christmas season, because historically need tends to mount to a peak during that season.So I thought an online fundraiser a very good idea. In that vein I have set up a gofundme campaign to be found here (every single last cent less the fee gofundme takes will go to KCFB). If you cannot donate, please share this around, especially if you live in or around Keizer. If you do, you most likely know someone who has used KCFB services or perhaps used them yourself. Please, if you have used any food bank in the past, pay it forward by either donating or sharing this article.
The KCFB also takes direct donations and donations of non-perishable foods. You can find information (addresses, contact info, etc) here and here. If that is not enough info, feel free to either kosmail me or email me at rexymeteorite@gmail.com for more information. I have talked to Curt and he said that the KCFB is currently accepting donations of food, clothing, school supplies, hygiene supplies, pet food and other supplies. With bigger donations, we will need to know in advance so we can get volunteers in to process the donation. Please let me know through kosmail or email.
Again, if you have nothing or if you dont want to give, please give this a share or rec. Like I said the need is great, and the resources few.
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As an added bonus, here are some pictures of the KCFB staff, doing what they do best -- feeding the hungry!
The Pantry Staff The pantry partially stocked -- this will feed approx 30 families. About 40 families showed up, 10 had to be turned away. The Line Staff The Freezer Line. The freezers. The whole Thursday crew! Director of the KCFB Curt McCormack