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It’s an incredible thing to be able to watch a community respond to those in need of a helping hand, as we have been privileged to be able to watch every year during what has become the Roy Trembly Annual Fall Food Drive, hosted by the Times in partnership with a collection of local veterans organizations that embody the idea of “completing the mission.”
The Marine Corps Veterans Association, Marine Corps League and AMVETS never miss an opportunity to serve. (Local representatives of the VA never miss a chance to offer flu shots or a listening ear to the veterans they help keep healthy, either.)
And while it is a pleasure to watch this group come together to give folks an opportunity to help, it is wonderful to watch people pull up with their donations (most recently to Walmart in Marietta - the food drive has survived a couple of changes of location, too).
Some feel as though they need to apologize for not bringing a trunkload of food, though they need not do so. EVERYTHING helps someone. That is what is important.
And when everyone does a little, it can add up to a whole lot of help for those who need the support of the Gospel Mission Food Pantry in Marietta.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” Jeff Waite, director of the mission, said during Saturday’s event. “Without the community’s support, we could not exist.
“We go through a lot of food feeding (350 to 450 people per week). It takes a lot of food,” he said.
Those who answered the call over the weekend brought not only food donations, but nearly $2,000 to help Gospel Mission buy more of what it will need. Thank you, to everyone who gave.
Prices are rising, families are struggling, and it is easy to get discouraged.
Those who helped and those who gave on Saturday remind us all: We might not have a lot, but we have each other.