Hunger Relief Day: 10.10.10

The tenth day. The tenth month. The tenth year.

Here's the scarf I made to wear on 10.10.10: the logos of BLC, MCR, HRD, and ELCA. (enough acronyms!?) Funny thing is, it looked just a little bit like a stole when I actually put it on. Hmmm...

A wall of food at Bethany Lutheran Church!

As one member observed, "It was neat to watch the food being dropped off. Each bag of food was carefully placed in its own, particular spot, and had to physically touch another bag, as if it didn't want to be alone. There was an energy in those bags - a connection between each giver."

BLG jar, ready to go!

The offering of the jars

I was a bit concerned that the kids will need
water bottles to get through the service...

Oodles of Noodles

The wall of food, on its way to the Metro CareRing BBQ!
(Who needs to see out the rear-view mirror?!)

There's room for just ONE more bag, right?

Metro CareRing hosted a BBQ on 10.10.10 to celebrate the efforts of the community. We were able to tour the facility, enjoy live music, and meet the many caring volunteers of Metro CareRing.

Lynne Butler, Executive Director of Metro CareRing,
and the head, heart, and soul behind Hunger Relief Day.

Pastor Ron and his wife, Sue Ann, enjoy a
bit of time on the 'dance floor' while local blues
singer Erica Brown and friends entertained.

Sue Ann and I, movin' and groovin'. I'm not really sure how I was able to go out there and move anything, as my blood sugar CRASHED just before arriving at MCR. I'm glad there were pictures from the event - specifics are pretty blurry! Ugh!

I may not have felt very well, but we certainly look happy!

Bethany members and fervent 10.10.10 supporters Vicky and Larry Daub were featured in the Denver Post on October 11th, and helped serve food the day of the BBQ. (Photo by Judy DeHaas)

Bestselling author and Colorado resident Philip Yancey, his wife, Janet, visit with Pr Ruth Ann and myself the Metro CareRing BBQ.

We were able to sneak a peek at Yancey's latest book, "What Good is God: In Search of a Faith That Matters", which is being released this week! (Click here for more information about the book and here to visit Philip Yancey's website.)

CHECK it out: $17,800 for Metro CareRing!
Larry, Vicky, Scott, Cathy, Brenda, Pr Ruth Ann, Sarah, Pr Ron

Since 10.10.10, we were able to
thankfully collect and carefully count
the many over-flowing Dollar a Day jars.

We found one-of-a-kind jars...

...jars from Poker Games...

...and hand-made coin slots to get that change inside!

Buried within the many thousands of coins, we found lots of
other treasures, too! Foreign currency, buttons, souvenirs, etc.

In the middle of it all, we discovered a shiny stone
proclaiming the central message of it all: LOVE.


Saturday, 10/16/2010: just 6 days past Hunger Relief Day,
our current totals of overwhelming generosity are:

$20,783 and 19,592 lbs of food!

Our sincerest thanks for all of your prayers,
words of encouragement, donations, and kindness.

For 100 days, I have literally tripped over one of these folders in my main hallway. Each day, I would wake up and finish the details on that day's particular post. I'm going to miss this daily devotion!

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Here were the final messages from
Pastor Ron and myself on the HRD blog:

...give us this day, our daily bread...
Matthew 6:11

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A message from Pastor Ron Glusenkamp: I'm so very grateful that our partners have made a promise to give money, to live in new ways and most important of all be joined together in a Metro CareRing of Hope, Action, Love and Grace. This is truly God's Work, Our Hands. So, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you, God bless you and I love you!

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A message from Brenda Greenwald: Back in July of 2010, as we began this 100-day journey together, we asked to you join us in song, facts, images, prayer, food, service, and scripture.

Our goal was that the past 100 days would be informational, that we would learn together the impact of hunger around the world and be more conscientious about what we put in our bodies.

Our hope was that the past 100 days would be intentional, that our actions would be purposeful and that we would seek new ways to renew our commitment to ending hunger and realizing our role was not out of guilt, rather, out of grace.

Our prayer was that the past 100 days would be inspirational, that through mutual encouragement, we could see God's work was indeed alive through our hands!

Hunger Relief Community, while striving to provide these things for you, you have in turn gifted these things upon me! I have been blessed beyond measure by this journey and will sincerely miss the daily devotion of reaching out to you through images and text. I know our connection does not end here, however, as we've all been touched by the Holy Spirit's amazing ability to bless and inspire us to go out and serve the Lord! Thanks be to God!

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Day 100. Dollar 100. Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow human beings throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy. Amen. (ELW, additional prayers, Mother Teresa)