When I was brainstorming up Humanity House, I thought I had everything figured out. I believe in myself. I believe in others. I think things through, move pretty quickly, follow plans well, and usually things turn out the way that I thought they would. Things that don’t turn out, to me, are not failures. They are just another chance to get things right.
What I had not planned for was the amount of compassion that Humanity House requires. Imagine your furnace quits in the middle of winter, and the water lines freeze up. Or you’re sick and unable to go to the grocery store, and so your cupboards and fridge are bare. Or your car breaks down, and you don’t know how to get your kids to school in the cold and maybe yourself to work. You have an unexpected medical bill, and suddenly you have no extra money for anything until payday.
Now imagine that you are worrying about this for nearly 50 percent of the population of Allen County. That is how many of our friends and neighbors live with housing, utility, medicine, and food insecurity. And the worry and stress for all of our friends and neighbors can be heartbreaking and so very stressful.
So here are some things that you can do to help.
If you know someone who does not have a car, offer them a lift to the grocery store or to take their children to school.
If you have a few dollars to spare, put it on an elderly person’s utility bill.
If you have extra things in your pantry, food that you like but you just have extra, donate it to the Humanity House food pantry. We let people come to our food pantry every month because a lot of people who visit us are on disability or are retired and have the same food insecurity issues every single month, not just once every three months.
When you donate items to our food pantry, please remember things like toilet paper, feminine products, deodorant, shampoo, dish soap, small can openers, canned meats, dried or canned beans, canned vegetables and fruits, sugar, flour, cooking oil, rice, dried potatoes, peanut butter, chili with beans or canned stews, soups, shelf-stable and powdered milk, nuts, pasta, meals in a box, granola bars, salt and pepper, applesauce, butter, and popcorn (not microwaveable). It may seem like a lot to ask you to put an extra one of these items in your cart and drop it by the Humanity House office, but I promise you it makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. And to me, it means a little less worry. Donations to Humanity House to purchase food from the Kansas Food Bank are also greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for looking out for others in our county. Kindness matters!
At the grocery store, think one extra
