Last fall I moved from one of the 5 richest counties in the US to either the poorest or second poorest county in OH (depends on who you talk to) and one of 29 counties considered to be in Appalachia.
This is a beautiful part of the country, with the most wonderful genuine, kind and helpful people you could ever meet.
And the reality is that some really struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table, yet they don't give up.
This morning a Church in town was having a "Basement Sale" and not knowing what that was I stopped to check it out and yes they did have some books and I did buy some books (not all of them). It was kinda like a thrift store, except there were no prices and you made whatever kind of donation you felt appropriate for what you bought. The funds were to build a cafeteria (eating area) and two classrooms for the Christian school they hold there).
While I was looking at the book table a young woman came in asking if this was where they were giving free food away. The women running the sale were very helpful and explained it was a different Church further up the road and that you needed to be in line at 8:30 am because they did it until the food ran out which apparently didn't take long.
Here is a woman who has left an abusive husband has 4 children and is looking for food. And the women from the Church wrote down a couple of other places to try and contact names and phone numbers. Apparently it would be Tuesday before the next food pantry would be open so they asked her if she had any food to get her through the weekend. She said she had a little bit but not much. Anyway one of the women gave her a bag of groceries (and told her what was in it, probably had bought it for her own family).
I was really touched how they assisted her, without judgement and with kindness. And they gave her lots of options of where to go to get assistance and what she would need regarding ID etc.
And once again I was reminded of how grateful I am for the food I have to eat and the roof I have over my head.
Jill
Jill@AntiquarianBookLounge.com
http://www.antiquarianbooklounge.com/
MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/antiquarianbooklounge
MySpace Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/antiquarianbooklounge
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Adventures, interesting experiences and learnings as I adjust to living in the country having been a city girl all my life.
1 comment:
Welcome to the Ap. I have had a love affair going on with Southern Ohio all of my life. Although I was born here, I was raised all over the country and was a Marine Corps wife in my first marriage which took me all over the country. One thing always remained the same, no matter where I lived my heart always yearned for Southern Ohio. It warms my heart to know that others come here to live and fall hopelessly in love with Southern Ohio. If you don't mind I will add a link to you from my blog.
Peace to you,
~Jo
Post a Comment