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Did you wake up in your comfy bed from a good night’s sleep, and start your day with a shower, and a nutritious breakfast? Do you realize how blessed you are to live in some of the best conditions this country, and the world, has to offer? And do you appreciate ... truly appreciate it?

I doubt it would come as a shock if I said that there are people in the world who don’t have these things. If you could say yes to all of those questions, I’m sure at some point you’ve seen a commercial for Christian Children’s Fund, or an organization like it, showing conditions in the third world, and begging and pleading for your help. The third world is not what I want to talk to you about. Would it be as easy to dismiss poverty, starvation, and the afflictions of less fortunate people, if it were happening here in Ottawa?

I have been volunteering at the Ottawa Mission down on Waller for about a year – specifically in the kitchen. My responsibilities usually have less to do with cooking, and more to do with taking stock, and preparation. This week, when I arrived, I was asked to go through some produce that had been donated, that was meant to be served for dinner that night. I got excited, because I was sure I would finally get the responsibility and the chance to prepare some fresh, real food.

Then they brought out the food I was supposed to check...

I vividly remember looking at another volunteer, and asking, “Is corn supposed to look like it’s bleeding?” I had to be told that it had actually gone so bad that what I was looking at wasn’t blood, it was rot. I had never seen corn in that condition, least of all in a place where it was meant to be served to people. Now, instead of sifting through crates of what I thought I could safely assume was mostly edible corn, with a few exceptions, I found myself tossing it out by the crate. I was sad for the people who work as cooks in the kitchen, because of what they had to work with. I was sad for those people who come to the Mission, most of them probably counting on what was supposed to be a healthy, quality meal.

As I sat and thought about it more, for the first time in a long time, I started to feel angry. I was angry that in the capital city of Canada, this was what the people most in need, had to look forward to when it came to fresh, quality food. I was angry at the fact that this food that was all rotten, had been donated food. Now, on the surface, it sounds like it would be a great thing that so much food had been given freely. When you think about it a little longer, though, you realize that it is just the opposite.

For so much produce to be visibly rotten by the time it gets to a place like the Ottawa Mission, or the Food Bank, says a lot. But what it doesn’t say, is how generous, and caring, and charitable, the people who sent it are. What it says, is how very little that person cares, about the “food” they are “giving”, or about the people who will receive it. Before you consider donating food to an organization like the Ottawa Mission, or the Food Bank, ask yourself, is what you are giving to others, food you would be happy to eat yourself, or to serve to your family and friends? If the answer is a carefully considered, honest yes, then you are making a sacrifice of something you care about, for the benefit of someone else, in greater need of it than you are. That is genuine charity. But if the answer to that question, is that what you are giving is not something you would eat, or serve to others gladly, then to send it to somewhere else, for someone who has a far more considerable need for food, is not charity. It is a great and disgusting insult. Before you consider sending food to people in need, please, take a second to consider, if you wouldn’t eat it yourself, or serve it to a guest in your home... if something isn’t good enough for you, or someone you care about, why should it be considered good enough to be served to anyone else?

The Ottawa Mission is an organization founded by Christian leaders and principles. One of those principles is that, when we give of what is ours, in sacrifice and charity, we give the first and best fruits of our labour. Ottawa’s homeless are people first, and are worthy of the same dignity and respect you would have for yourself, your family, and your friends. When you give, in the future, let that be the message that your giving sends to them. Instead of bringing them your leftovers, and the food you no longer want, just to get rid of it... if you really want to be charitable, go to the grocery store, and spend your money on good, quality food you would be proud to serve to someone else, and bring it to them the same day. Before it has time to sit, and go bad, and become an afterthought, go and give it, straight from the grocery store to their kitchens. Make it a purposeful, intentional plan. Give them charity, and dignity, by showing the homeless that someone still appreciates them, and by giving them something to appreciate. If you can’t, or won’t, at least give them that much, it would be better if you gave nothing at all.

Description
Did you wake up in your comfy bed from a good night’s sleep, and start your day with a shower, and a nutritious breakfast? Do you realize how blessed you are to live in some of the best conditions this country, and the world, has to offer? And do you appreciate ... truly appreciate it?

I doubt it would come as a shock if I said that there are people in the world who don’t have these things. If you could say yes to all of those questions, I’m sure at some point you’ve seen a commercial for Christian Children’s Fund, or an organization like it, showing conditions in the third world, and begging and pleading for your help. The third world is not what I want to talk to you about. Would it be as easy to dismiss poverty, starvation, and the afflictions of less fortunate people, if it were happening here in Ottawa?

I have been volunteering at the Ottawa Mission down on Waller for about a year – specifically in the kitchen. My responsibilities usually have less to do with cooking, and more to do with taking stock, and preparation. This week, when I arrived, I was asked to go through some produce that had been donated, that was meant to be served for dinner that night. I got excited, because I was sure I would finally get the responsibility and the chance to prepare some fresh, real food.

Then they brought out the food I was supposed to check...

I vividly remember looking at another volunteer, and asking, “Is corn supposed to look like it’s bleeding?” I had to be told that it had actually gone so bad that what I was looking at wasn’t blood, it was rot. I had never seen corn in that condition, least of all in a place where it was meant to be served to people. Now, instead of sifting through crates of what I thought I could safely assume was mostly edible corn, with a few exceptions, I found myself tossing it out by the crate. I was sad for the people who work as cooks in the kitchen, because of what they had to work with. I was sad for those people who come to the Mission, most of them probably counting on what was supposed to be a healthy, quality meal.

As I sat and thought about it more, for the first time in a long time, I started to feel angry. I was angry that in the capital city of Canada, this was what the people most in need, had to look forward to when it came to fresh, quality food. I was angry at the fact that this food that was all rotten, had been donated food. Now, on the surface, it sounds like it would be a great thing that so much food had been given freely. When you think about it a little longer, though, you realize that it is just the opposite.

For so much produce to be visibly rotten by the time it gets to a place like the Ottawa Mission, or the Food Bank, says a lot. But what it doesn’t say, is how generous, and caring, and charitable, the people who sent it are. What it says, is how very little that person cares, about the “food” they are “giving”, or about the people who will receive it. Before you consider donating food to an organization like the Ottawa Mission, or the Food Bank, ask yourself, is what you are giving to others, food you would be happy to eat yourself, or to serve to your family and friends? If the answer is a carefully considered, honest yes, then you are making a sacrifice of something you care about, for the benefit of someone else, in greater need of it than you are. That is genuine charity. But if the answer to that question, is that what you are giving is not something you would eat, or serve to others gladly, then to send it to somewhere else, for someone who has a far more considerable need for food, is not charity. It is a great and disgusting insult. Before you consider sending food to people in need, please, take a second to consider, if you wouldn’t eat it yourself, or serve it to a guest in your home... if something isn’t good enough for you, or someone you care about, why should it be considered good enough to be served to anyone else?

The Ottawa Mission is an organization founded by Christian leaders and principles. One of those principles is that, when we give of what is ours, in sacrifice and charity, we give the first and best fruits of our labour. Ottawa’s homeless are people first, and are worthy of the same dignity and respect you would have for yourself, your family, and your friends. When you give, in the future, let that be the message that your giving sends to them. Instead of bringing them your leftovers, and the food you no longer want, just to get rid of it... if you really want to be charitable, go to the grocery store, and spend your money on good, quality food you would be proud to serve to someone else, and bring it to them the same day. Before it has time to sit, and go bad, and become an afterthought, go and give it, straight from the grocery store to their kitchens. Make it a purposeful, intentional plan. Give them charity, and dignity, by showing the homeless that someone still appreciates them, and by giving them something to appreciate. If you can’t, or won’t, at least give them that much, it would be better if you gave nothing at all.