Thirty Days on A-Dollar-A-Day: Closing Reflections

It has now been three weeks since I ended my 30 day, dollar-a-day fast.  It has taken me all three weeks to begin to feel energetically normal again.  I am impressed with the deep impact on my body of 30 days of poor and inadequate nutrition.  Imagine the impact of that kind of sustenance 365 days a year!  I am also impressed with how much I waste and how indulgently and even carelessly I eat.  It’s hard not to in this culture: restaurant portions are oversized; parties are designed so that we over eat; and eating to excess is the way we often enjoy ourselves.  I am not saying we should never indulge – there is a time to party and feast – but all of the time?  I am determined to make some small change to keep before me the awareness of how many people go hungry every day while I have more than enough. I believe that awareness can lead to change.  We cannot stay aware of the great imbalance between those of us who have far more than we need for food, including nutritional content, and those who don’t get enough calories much less nutritional sustenance every day and not do something about it.  I believe that as human beings made in the image of God, we have creative possibilities before us that we have not even begun to imagine or explore, but it starts with awareness.  I am committing to eating on a dollar a day once a month to remind myself and to then contribute what I would have spent on food that day to Together in Hope for Jessica’s Table in the Philippines.  What about you?  I also want to do this once a year in some way – perhaps for only a week or two with the same commitment – to contribute what I would have spend on food to Jessica’s Table to feed hungry children.  Will you join me?  

The work in the Philippines continues and lives and communities are being transformed.  We still need your help to continue the work, so just because my 30 day fast is over doesn’t mean that the giving has to end.  My Filipino god-daughter, Zion, is inspiring me to find creative ways to increase my giving beyond what I think I can do.  Maybe she will inspire you too. Zion turned 7 this past Saturday, September 21.  Zion and her parents and younger sister, live in Obando in a small “apartment.”  This apartment has three tiny rooms furnished with a king sized inch thick matt on the floor on which they all sleep, a sofa and a small table for eating.  Meals are a small scoop of rice and an even smaller portion of fish or fried pork when it is available.  By all material standards, they are poor.  When I was in the Philippines this past June, I stopped to visit for a couple of days and shared meals with them – I ate less there than I did on a dollar a day here.  Knowing that I would not be able to return for Zion’s birthday, I left a small amount of money with her parents so that they could buy her something special for her birthday.  When her parents told her that I had left some money for a birthday present and asked her what she wanted, here is what Zion said:  “I have everything that I need, but the children at the Hulo Day Care Center do not have enough food.  Could we buy food for them and take it to share with them and let that be my birthday present?”  Needless to say, I wept when I heard what she had done.  

My friend Bo Brackendorff got creative too – for his 60^th birthday, which was the same day as Zion’s birthday, he had a party and asked his friends not to bring presents but to instead give to Together in Hope to help the poor.  Way to go Bo! “Happy Birthday” and “thank you” from all of the children of Jessica’s Table.  Working Together in Hope, we can make a difference!  Won’t you join us?