The four or five-year-old boy stood staring with his big brown eyes under the fringe of dark hair at the shelves of fruit, sandwiches, cookies and chips. This was not his first trip to the Mobile Loaves and Fishes truck that afternoon. He and his brothers had gotten their bags of food at our first stop in the sprawling apartment complex. They’d followed the truck to the next stop, and while the older boys looked at the clothing on the other side of the truck, the littlest stood staring at the food. “Are you still hungry?“ I asked him. He solemnly nodded yes. I gave him an orange and a bag of cookies. A few minutes later, he was back staring again. This time he got a sandwich and some chips. He smiled, said thank you, and ran away.

The ten or eleven-year-old girl came around the truck thrilled because she found a cool pair of shorts. She said it was a great day. A man came over and took his bag of food with a huge smile, telling us this meant he would have something to eat on his break at work that night. A woman asked if she could have food for her husband and two children (four meals, please).

Everyone was so grateful. Nearly every person replied with a big “thank you,” or a heart-felt “God bless you.” One mother with four sons made sure each one said please and thank you for each element of the meal. Sandwich, hard boiled egg, chips, fruit, cookies, drinks—24 pleases and thanks from four boys with huge smiles on their faces.

It is wonderful to donate money and food to help others. It is amazing to meet the people you’re helping face-to-face. I strongly encourage everyone to sign up at least once to help when Peace has a team on the Mobile Loaves and Fishes truck. It’s the best way I’ve found to spend a Saturday evening.

– Judy Olson