I'm "lucky" and I love a bargain
A while back, I was asked to explain why I'm involved in the Good Shepherd Food-Bank.
After giving this question some thought I realized there were two parts of this explanation. First, I'm a pretty lucky guy. God gave me two wonderful parents, living in a wonderful country. We grew up financially poor but rich in spirit, heart and desire.
I've always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and have been blessed with health, wealth, an awesome wife, and five healthy children. Don't ask me why my life has gone this way; there is no "logical" explanation.
I recognize that I could have been born into an abusive, unloving family, into hopeless poverty, with mental or physical disabilities limiting my abilities. But I wasn't, I've simply been lucky.
But with this luck comes a responsibility. I've always been taught that when you open a pack of gum in front of other people you offer them a piece, that Popsicles were designed with two sticks and a weak centerline for a reason. I give my time and resources because I recognize that I couldn't truly be happy unless I did. It is never easy to break up your Popsicle and give half to the kid without one, but the rewards are deep and very, very gratifying.
The second reason why I'm involved with the Good Shepherd Food Bank is because it is such an awesome deal! I want my donated dollar to go a long way and I want my invested time to be far reaching.
First of all it's a great deal because for a $1.6 million budget, the Good Shepherd Food Bank received, sorted, packed and shipped over $10,000,000 worth of food last year, that's a 14 to 1 return on a donated dollar.
When I decide whether or not to give to a cause, I am not only concerned about who the organization helps, but how much of my dollars actually filters down to those in need after overhead and administrative costs.
At the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, a dollar doesn't filter down; it grows like a seed and bears much fruit.
So how is the Good Shepherd Food-Bank far reaching? The Good Shepherd Food-Bank distributes food from York to Presque Isle, Maine through nearly 600 non-profits in different communities. But it's not only the geographics that are far reaching, it's the potpourri of causes.
A donation to the Good Shepherd Food-Bank has that "United Way" effect by helping many other different causes. Not only do we help to feed Maine's poor through pantries and soup kitchens, we facilitate aid to battered women, drug and alcohol addicts, aids victims, abused children and many more by allowing group homes for these causes to use their food savings for things like additional hot lines or advocacy lawyers.
The benefits from giving my time and money to the Good Shepherd Food-Bank are off the charts in every way and that's what I call a great "bargain".
Ken Ray
