Adopting a Cause~Fighting Hunger in our Midst

Tags

adoptee, awareness, Charity, Entertainment, Giving back, Hunger, John Henry MacDonald, Music, Social Consciousness

People need to become more connected to where they live…It’s good to make a difference locally. -Poet, memoirist, and fellow blogger Luanne Castle

Luanne is absolutely right. I’m trying to make a difference locally with an upcoming Santa Fe, New Mexico event. In the works for a year, a concert for charity is happening on Sunday October 8th. Austin-based singer-songwriter John Henry MacDonald is coming to town to raise money for Feeding Santa Fe, an all-volunteer organization that, once a week on Thursdays, gives a bag of groceries to anyone who shows up at the drive-through dock.
Hunger, or, as it’s often called,“food insecurity,” is serious problem. Of course, this is true in many other places, but Santa Fe is where I live and where I can strive to make a difference. Fortunately this is a city with a big heart. Feeding Santa Fe, is one several agencies striving to alleviate hunger. Think of it as a free food pantry. The totally-volunteer organization rallies their workers every Thursday beginning at 6 a.m. Bags of groceries are distributed to those who drive through the loading dock in the rear of the Feeding Santa Fe building. No forms to fill out, no questions asked. I volunteered and was touched, moved and inspired by the great work this organization is doing. And so it was that I decided to create a benefit for Feeding Santa Fe.
John Henry MacDonald is a friend I met on the hiking trail last summer. During treks in the mountains around Santa Fe, I learned a lot about this remarkable man’s journey, his musical and storytelling expertise, and his passion to help people. When he and his wife Louise came to Santa Fe again this summer, we talked more. Another friend, Susan Odiseos, heads up Feeding Santa Fe, and we’d talked about how her organization can raise money for an industrial refrigerator and other needs. I put John and Susan together and the concert idea was born. John Henry, an endlessly creative Renaissance man with a gift for storytelling, has created a show titled “A Guru Named Frank,” and he’ll be presenting it at Holy Faith Episcopal Church. The generosity has already started, with Los Alamos National Bank donating money for printing promo cards and posters. Dozens of Santa Fe’s finest restaurants have given lunch and dinner certificates for the ongoing “Food for Food” raffle.
What does all this have to do with my being an adoptee? Plenty! Before I was adopted at age five, I faced food insecurity. My brother and I were shuffled about in a series of temporary arrangements, and we often lacked enough to eat. After age five, in the home of my adoptive parents, I never went hungry again. In today’s turbulent world, one wonders how to help make things better. Feeding people is a step in the right direction. (To learn more about Feeding Santa Fe, go to http://www.feedingsantafe.org).

******************************************************************

Please comment, especially if there’s something you’re doing in YOUR community to make a positive difference. We’d love to hear about it!

Join Elaine for reflections on Adoption and Life

Advertisement

Eastern European Odyssey~Captivated by Croatia

Tags

adoptee, Adoption recovery, Balkan Wars, Croatia, Music, Neoclassical Arhcitecture, Travel, Truth, Vukovar

On a recent cruise on the Danube River through Eastern Europe, I fell in love with each new place. But of all five countries—Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania—I was most captivated by Croatia. Having survived occupations, brutal wars, cultural genocide, and economic disaster, Croatia, with its beautiful scenery, young population, and neoclassical architecture amidst gutted out buildings, is an upbeat location.

My travel buddy Gloria and I are out walking. It is a peaceful Sunday afternoon in Vukovar, Croatia, a city of 25,000. Ravaged through the1990s by the Balkan Wars, the city conveys an air of survival. It offers a sobering combination: lovely Neoclassical architecture as well as gutted out buildings.

“Why,” asked a fellow travelers, doesn’t the government just raze these wrecked buildings and rebuild? Why let them fall into further decrepitude?”

Our guide intimates that there are two main reasons. Many of the original owners of these sad buildings fled the country and cannot be located. Additionally, there is a nationwide shortage of money. Rebuilding will take a long, long time. In outlying areas beyond the peaceful town of Vukovar, there are still minefields. German Shepherds are sniffing out explosives.

We stroll about, enjoying the open city arcade with its traditional obelisk, a monument surrounded by statues: saints, mythological figures, military heroes. The yellow and white municipal buildings lend an air of order and civility to this formerly war-torn area.

Sunday strolling in the heart of Vukovar

Back onboard our longship, theVili, we are treated to a quintet of Croatian musicians, a group that calls itself “Veritas.” Strumming and plucking a variety of stringed instruments,the young musicians serenade us. They are exuberant and clearly talented. One feels that they are living up to their name, “Veritas.” (In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue.)

The virtue of truthfulness, was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess.  The truth of Croatia, it seems, is that life goes on.

***************************************************************

Join Elaine every other Monday for a new post. She writes about adoption, hiking and life. You’re invited to comment!