What it is:
The Beaverton School District (BSD) serving Beaverton and parts of NW Portland, OR, sponsors this volunteer opportunity. The Fork it Over welcome letter gives a program overview:
School cafeteria food, which would otherwise be thrown out, is packaged by nutrition services staff at each school and made ready for delivery to local food pantries. Fork It Over volunteers pick the food up and make the delivery. You help by transporting food from schools to a food pantry. Whether you volunteer once a month, or once a week, your help is greatly needed. The commitment is about an hour of your time and the use of your own vehicle.
The Job:
This is the 4th time I’ve completed a route with this food bank delivery organization. I’ve pretty much written all the “how to” details for this simple volunteer activity. To refresh, you can read about:
This week, I needed the ease of serving with Fork It Over. My girls are in show week of their spring musical, “A Year with Frog and Toad”, which puts the family in a tail spin for a few days. Come to think of it, the last time I volunteered with Fork it Over was during a show week. Maybe this will become my tradition.
I realize I should be branching out and trying different Fork it Over routes. And I will. But as I craved solitude this week, I wanted to stay on autopilot, listen to alternative 80’s music, and drive alone with my thoughts.
And this is what I chose to think about.
Deep Thoughts (but not with SNL’s Jack Handy):
This morning I read a guest blog from Stuff Christians Like. The poster wrote about ethics of bragging over social media, especially spiritual bragging. We’ve all read comments on Facebook or Twitter like,
“Loved waking up to a house totally cleaned by my 2 children and a 5 course breakfast cooked by my husband. I’m so lucky to have this perfect family!”
or
“Phew. I’m exhausted after running the Boston Marathon. Better rest up for my Tour de France ride tomorrow!”
But the example given in the Stuff Christians Like post hit closer to home.
“Just volunteered at a women’s shelter and fed the homeless.”
The comment was written as a joke – as people show the world, “Hey – look how great I am!”. But I’ve actually written posts like that, and my intent wasn’t to draw attention to myself. So it got me thinking.
Does my blog go against scripture? Matthew 6:1 says,
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Maybe I shouldn’t be blogging about volunteering every week. Maybe I need to continue my 2012 goal, but not write about it.
And then I started thinking about the actions occurring as a result of the blog. Like:
- My friend who read the Northwest Children’s Outreach post and as a result, asked that her daughter’s school fundraiser dedicate money for desperately needed diapers.
- My friend who wanted to catch up and chat while volunteering instead of meeting for coffee.
- My friend who read about making lunches for the homeless and told her own family they would do the same…on Mother’s Day.
- My friend who brought her kids to work on an elderly couple’s yard because she wants to teach the value of serving.
My purpose of trying to have the “nature of a servant” isn’t to appear high and mighty. If I ever seem that way, I apologize.
But if any of you, even one time, read about somewhere I’ve volunteered and think, “I will do that!” then I guess I have to risk the possibility of appearing self-righteous.
What do you think? Is “Nature of a Servant” spiritual bragging, or an encouragement to get off the couch and do something? Comment below.
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Andee, i don't think you are bragging, i think your blog is a great resource of volunteer activities for your readers, and probably keeps you accountable. keep blogging!
Thanks, Jill. I appreciate the encouragement!