Offering Hope And 5,000 Salads To A Community In Need

Today, 20 churches from various denominations in the city of Roswell, GA came together to address the needs of the hurting and under-resourced in our city in an event called Roswell Day of Hope.

Roswell Day of Hope, a ministry of “Hope Roswell,” is a nonprofit organization, made up of local churches, nonprofits, businesses, health agencies, Roswell City Hall, and area schools. During the RDOH outreach, free groceries are distributed, job and health fairs are organized, community services are displayed, and activities for children are provided.

A wonderful relief organization called Convoy of Hope provided all the groceries.  My family’s job was to work in the grocery line.  In essence, hundreds of volunteers would line up with bags while hundreds others filled them with them with food.  My daughter provided macaroni and cheese while my wife and I distributed salad.

As a result of this collective effort, 5,000 bags of groceries were packed and provided to those in need.  And that was just the services provided by the section we were in.

There are a number of wealthy areas in the city of Roswell, located just north of Atlanta.  But what most people don’t realize is that 10% of our city lives below the poverty line.  It was an honor to lock arms with others to address that need.

The following are just some of my immediate impressions of the day:

1. We come in contact with or pass literally thousands of people daily who hurt deeply and we don’t even realize it.
2. It is wonderful having churches of different denominations and nationalities come together to serve others in the name of Jesus.
3. You can accomplish more collectively than individually.
4. It was a great opportunity to build friendships with people I see every Sunday but haven’t had the opportunity to meet.
5. There are wonderful relationships currently being developed between churches and the government and business sectors.
6. As a parent you want to take advantage of opportunities such as this to allow your suburban daughter to expand her worldview to those less fortunate.  By the way, she was amazing!
7. It is always an absolute joy serving alongside my wife.

As a society we are realizing that the government is not the solution to basically any problem we face.  The banking and mortgage crises have taught us that business and the economy are not reliable alternatives either.  Education is great but not the ultimate answer.

The answers to the problems we face as a society are only going to be answered by local churches working collectively in their full redemptive power.  5,000 people were reminded of that today and given hope…and 5,000 bags of salad.

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