I made an unspoken promise that we would always serve breakfast
Years ago I was attending a home visit with our psychologist, Lily. Periodically Lily will visit families’ homes, and I love being able to go with her.
During this time, we had just started serving breakfast at Escuela Integrada. I have probably been on hundreds of home visits over the past 15 years, and there are some home visits that I never forget.
As I walked into the home, I quickly realized this family was one of the poorest families that we serve. The poverty was evident. As we spoke with the mother, she started to weep. She was so grateful for the breakfast that was being served at the school and how it was helping her family.
I think I remember this home visit so well because I remember the wave of guilt I felt at that moment. I wasn’t that far removed from high school at this point and was thinking about how my school also served breakfast for free as part of the free and reduced lunch program. Of course, you had to arrive at a certain time to receive breakfast, and I only went early when they served my favorite items.
This woman was weeping because of how grateful she was that her children were receiving free breakfast, and I had been a teenager who preferred to sleep in because I did not need free breakfast.
I don’t recommend serving others out of guilt, however I am sure we can all think of times when we were moved and it motivated us into action.
At that moment, I made an unspoken promise that we would always serve breakfast at the school as long as I could help it—even when our organization had no business of making a financial commitment that large.
But God has been faithful, and our supporters have been faithful. So here I am nearly a decade later, hoping that you will also be motivated into action.
For our Year-End Campaign, we are focusing on our Meal Support Program which has a total cost of $94,200 for the year. If you haven’t yet, please prayerfully consider making a donation towards this campaign—there are still a few days left before the campaign ends!
Thank you for your love and generosity.
Hannah Nadeau Girón
Executive Director of GRACES