Day to Serve is an initiative started in the DC area several years ago. During the month from September 11 – October 10/11, citizens from across the political and religious (or non-religious) spectrum select a day to serve and “are encouraged to make a concerted effort to feed the hungry, clean up neighborhoods, and improve communities by recognizing and participating in “Day to Serve” activities,” to cite Virginia’s Day to Serve proclamation for 2015. The event extends beyond the month in fall at times, as with the Washington Nationals’ Day to Serve game (Aug 8 this year), where all food donations and ticket proceeds go to the Capital Area Food Bank.

In Annandale, we have the Annandale Christian Coalition for Action (ACCA), which provides a food pantry and other services to those in need in our area (without regard to religious affiliation). So for our Day to Serve, we partnered with several local grocery stores to collect food for the ACCA pantry.

First came the coordination with the stores, with several preparing bags of food that could be purchased for $5 or $10. Another store had a list of the desired items, and noted they had graciously put these items on sale for the day.

On the day of service, teams manned each store in two-hour shifts from 10-2, some passing out flyers to those entering the store and others waiting at the exit to receive any donations, whether of food or cash.

As the carts filled with donations, the bags of food were delivered to the ACCA food pantry, where they were counted or weighed, sorted, then shelved. Natural and dynamic team assignments formed as the waves of food hit the pantry.

Bart Marcois, our leader in doing this, had promised a chocolate mousse to the person with the most social media postings about what was going on. So during the lulls between waves of food coming in, the young people snapped pictures and attached witty captions.

Alas, all I got was a picture of the pantry’s list of food for a family of four for a week:

It’s humbling to realize what it takes to feed a family in need for a week.

________________________________________________________

You might ask why I am posting this on a Mormon blog.

In the fine print, and impossible to find on the Day to Serve website, is the fact that this movement was started by Mormons in the DC area. But proclaiming this origin is not the best way to encourage everyone to participate.

To quote from the good hymn, “Wake up, and do something more than dream of your mansions on high! Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure…” One of the best ways to feel the joy of God is to help those in need.