My Grandmomma

Photo by Donna Reeves Summer 2013

My Key West internship is drawing to an end as I finish the final three weeks of work.  Yesterday afternoon I sat at the  food pantry intake desk awaiting the next client.  I looked up to see an elderly lady standing in the lobby. At first it appeared her dress was ripped on the side. As she drew closer it became apparent the dress had a side zipper but was a bit too tight for closure. The Haitian grandma stood at the intake office door and pointed down at her feet. Her face screwed into something like a grimace as she explained to me that she had no shoes. I looked down at her bare feet and at the dress that was too small. I wondered if someone had hurt her or taken her things. We walked back to the clothes distribution area and she began trying on shoes. I looked through the women’s clothes hanging on the racks and showed a few of them to her. She found a  pair of donated shoes and three articles of clothing and left saying, “Thank You Mommy,” and smiling at me on her way out.

Where were her shoes?

Her rich open way reminded me of my Grandmomma and I love her very much.

Working at S.O.S. has given me a close look at extreme poverty. This sweet lady touched my heart. Seeing her standing there at the intake office threshold without her shoes renewed my focus. I want to work harder to help people. The Bible says there will always be poverty, but we can make things better for people. I want to understand and find strong viable solutions. God is watching us and waiting to see what we will do. -Love from Donna

Berea College Student Lends a Helping Hand

This is a Facebook message from Angie Lee, my cohort in the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program at Berea College. Angie writes to me about her recent experience with a homeless man. To read more from Angie visit her blog at  http://www.daretobefoolish.net/. 

Donna,

I stumbled across your blog after the Sullivan Foundation mentioned a post of yours. I just wanted to share an experience I encountered with a man during my spring break. This man was standing on the street corner outside of a restaurant, and he asked my husband and I for a piece of bread. We did not have any food, and told him to wait for us to come back. He began to cry. We raced to the grocery store, afraid that this man would be kicked off of the corner, and brought him some food. When we returned he began to kneel in thanks and cry, but of course we didn’t want him to kneel and asked him to stand. I wondered the rest of the night how this man would have ended up in his situation, and why a soup kitchen or shelter was not available to him.

Keep up the good work on your posts.

Angie