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“You know,” Bob commented one evening when they’d just dropped off several containers of
food at the women’s mission, “I didn’t understand how people could lose their homes and end up
in places like this. I mean, not until we started taking them food.” He frowned. “There are a lot of
desperate people in the world, aren’t there, Mom?” he added. “I guess what I mean is, when we’re
doing this stuff for other people, it kind of helps me forget how scared and uncertain I feel myself.”
Mary reached over and hugged him. “That’s a good feeling, too, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Ann joined in.
But despite the pleasure it gave Mary to pursue her project, she was feeling the pressure of
trying to hold down several physically demanding jobs and look after the children’s needs, as well
as drive around most of the night picking up and delivering food. She had several volunteers, and
she was grateful for every one of them. But her list was growing longer and the demands were
increasing.
“You really are going to have to have help,” Bev told her firmly. “You need someone to help
you coordinate all this.”
“Matt made a computer program,” Mary began.
“You need an organization to sponsor what you’re doing, Mary,” came the quiet reply. “You’re
going to fold up if you keep trying to do it all by yourself.”
“But I don’t know any organizations,” she said heavily.
“I do,” Bev replied. “The head of the local food bank has been in touch with me. That article
they did about you in the morning paper has gained some interest from some important people
around the city. I’ve been asked to introduce you to the food bank manager tomorrow. Can you get
off an hour early and meet me here?”
Mary was dumbfounded. “He wants to meet…me?”
Bev smiled. “You’re an inspiration to all of us, a woman in your circumstances who’s willing
to give time and money she doesn’t have to help people less fortunate than she is.”
She shook her head. “Anybody else would have done the same thing.”
“Not in a million years,” Bev said quietly. “Will you come?”
Mary sighed. “Okay. I’ll be here at four, is that all right?”
Bev grinned. “Just right!”
The manager of the City Food Bank, Tom Harvey, was tall and elegant, a soft-spoken
gentleman with a warm smile and kind dark eyes.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Crandall,” he said when he shook Mary’s hand. “I must
say, you’ve come as a surprise to all of us. I didn’t really believe the story in the paper until I
talked to Bev. So many times, reporters exaggerate the truth. But in your case, I think the story was
actually an understatement. I’m amazed at what you’ve done on your own initiative.”
“It’s tiring, but it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life,” Mary told him. “I enjoy
every minute of it.”
“So I’ve been told.” He frowned. “But your list of participating restaurants is growing bigger
by the day, and even with your volunteers, you’re not going to be able to keep up this pace.”
“I’m beginning to realize that,” Mary had to admit. She looked up at him curiously. “Do you
have any suggestions?”
“Yes, I do. I’d like to consider adding your project under our program and putting you in charge
of it. You’d work part-time, but it would be a paid job.”
Mary felt the blood drain out of her face. It seemed almost too good to be true. “You’re
joking.”
He shook his head. “I assure you, I’m not. Your program is unique, and it’s doing a lot of good.
I want to see it continue. I want to see you continue,” he emphasized with a smile. “With three
children to support and your full-time cleaning job, and this, I feel that you must be stretched pretty
thin.”
“I’m almost transparent,” she confessed with a smile. “But that wouldn’t stop me from doing
it.”
He nodded. “I thought you were that sort of person. There’s a pilot program in California
which does much the same manner of food rescue that you’re doing. I’d really like to fly you out
there and take a look at it, and see what you think. If you like it, we can expand your project and put
it in place here.”
Mary was thinking. Her mind was whirling. She could do this with professional help on the
organizational level. She could do it part-time as a salaried employee and cut her cleaning jobs in
half. She’d be able to spend more time with the children. They might be able to afford to rent a
house, even buy a car. It was overwhelming.
“You haven’t answered,” Tom Harvey said gently.
She smiled from ear to ear. “I’m speechless,” she admitted. “I’d like very much to see the
California program and make my decision afterward.”
“Great!” he exclaimed. “Then we’ll get the ball rolling!”
Mary took Matt up on his offer to keep the children over a weekend, while she flew to San
Diego. Although money wasn’t an issue since the City Food Bank covered all her travel
expenditures, she was nervous about the trip. However, Matt assured her that she was going to do
just fine. The kids kissed her goodbye and told her not to worry. Matt gave her a speaking look,
because he knew she’d worry anyway. He’d given her both his home and cell phone numbers, to
make sure she could reach him whenever she wanted to check on the children. It made her feel
better.
When she got to San Diego, she checked into the nice motel they’d put her up in and took a cab
to the food bank office. There, she met a live wire of a woman named Lorinda who ran the food
rescue program for the food bank there. It was similar to Mary’s, except that it was much more
efficient. There was a special unit of volunteers who made the rounds of the restaurants to pick up
food, and a separate unit that had panel trucks with which to make the deliveries. It worked like
clockwork, and served many shelters. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]