Running On Grace

For months now, we have been getting a lot of donations from Whole Foods Market (Tampa), from Metropolitan Ministries, and other local businesses, gardeners, farmers, and friends. Our supply has been growing, the need for food is not dwindling, and our recent renovation has given us plenty of room to stock food. Our team of volunteers has grown, too; not just in size but in reliability, in responsibilities taken on. The team that serves the Banquet on Thursdays was today awarded Metropolitan Ministries' Gideon Award, "Honoring vision and an innovative approach to serving and restoring hope". Yeah, we have great people.

Of all the pieces we do have in this puzzle that is the Well, we have been missing one: a large vehicle. We pick up a lot of food donations, and usually end up borrowing a friend's pickup truck or van to do so, which can be inconvenient for everyone at one point or another. Thank you to Jeremy, Cliff, Dennis, and everyone who has helped us make these pickups happen. We're grateful that your open-handedness has carried us through to this point. Now, through our supporters' generous donating, collecting resources and information, and helping us select a good vehicle, we have a Chevy 3500 cargo van of our own. We're mobile!

Jon & Tajhah parking the van at the Underground for the first time

Now we can pick up large donations of food, wherever it's coming from. And we can respond quickly to offers of food donations. We can even bring food to people or events, which is an awesome new possibility. We dream of a mobile restaurant that can bring food to the people in need at some point down the road. This is a tool for us. It's a way for us to go to those who have food to share and be ready to receive it. It's a way for us to go to those who could use some food, ready to give it. May this be a tool in God's hand to connect us to each other across the agreed-upon boundaries of social and economic class. May grace surge through its engine, and may it never run out.