Mom on the Run: Serving up a lesson in generosity

Lianne Wilkens/Columnist
Published: October 5, 2008

It's been months since we've been out here, but Deric and I are old pros.

"We're collecting food for the food bank today," he says to the shoppers as I set up our posters and cart. Deric, a high school freshman, smiles and offers the flyer listing the groceries needed at SERVE (Securing Emergency Resources through Volunteer Efforts). Together we approach customers, explain why we're there, tell how the SERVE food bank helped double the number of families this August since last August. "The shelves are bare. Could you pick up something for SERVE?"

Giant has a steady stream of shoppers, and Deric and I are glad when other kids show up to help. Kylie and Sandrine have a lot of experience too, and they grab flyers and get to work. Michael helped collect food only once long ago, and he watches for a minute before starting.

Traffic picks up as time ticks by, and soon all the kids are busy passing out flyers and accepting bags of groceries. The donations start with a trickle and become a flood: soup, spaghetti, peanut butter and jelly. Some people give us just one item; some lower bulging bags into our cart.

"Thank you for doing this," one woman says, and "God bless you," says another.

But most people don't give anything, and a lot don't even take our flyers. "I already gave," they say, or they hold up a hand in silent warning: Stay back. I'm not surprised anymore, but I am disappointed, every time. What if you lost your job?, I think.

With so many of our church's teenagers here, I get to move back and just watch. What I see makes me proud: the kids' compassion and commitment, their generosity and gratitude, their effort and energy. These are my kids, graduates of my Sunday school class, and I am unspeakably glad to see their caring.

During a lull in the traffic, I ask Michael, our newest helper, what he thinks. "I'm surprised," he says, nodding toward the cart brimming with donated goods. "I didn't expect so many people to give so much."

For a minute I am taken aback. I look at the cars in the parking lot, BMWs and Lexuses and Tahoes. I watch a couple in suits and heels, straight from church, the woman clutching her Coach purse tightly as they brush past Sandrine's outstretched flyer. They looked right at our cart, saw our big signs, and they strode past. That's what I see out here.

But then I look at what Michael sees. I see our cart, heaped with donations from shoppers: cereal, spaghetti, cans of vegetables, diapers, bags of rice. I think of our pick-up truck, with several cart-loads in the bed already. I realize that Michael sees the people who give, while I see the people who don't. I know his is the better perspective, the truer perspective that I am judging. I am humbled, by the gifts and their givers, by the kids, and by the lesson the student just taught the teacher.

Lianne Wilkens thanks the Wellington Giant and its generous shoppers, who over two Sundays donated more than 3,600 pounds of food for the hungry. She can be reached at .