Generous Hands, Inc.

During one of the first weeks of the program, one of the little boys receiving a backpack tugged on his teacher's sleeve and said, "Look, I saved a granola bar from my backpack this week, so I get to have a snack when everyone else does today."

We started our program in September 2004, and before our flyers had even gone out, a mom came to the school in tears. "I just need a little milk for my boys. Is there anyone who can help?" The principal shared the newly developed Friday Pack program and the mom replied, "Oh, these Friday Packs would be wonderful!"

A first grader was on his way to a field trip in St. Joseph. His teacher noticed his extra backpack and said, "Is that your Friday Pack?" He said yes, and he didn't want it to be lost or forgotten at school. Even though it weighed several pounds, he carried it throughout the museum the whole day.

After a feature article about Generous Hands ran in the Portage Gazette, our school secretary, a member of Generous Hands, received a phone call: "I would like to come and meet you and give you a donation." The secretary told the woman that she should mail the donation in, but she replied, "No, I need to meet you."

A week or so later, the woman appeared at the school and introduced herself to the secretary. She handed the secretary a donation, saying "I wanted you to know how wonderful this program is... you see, I was one of those children who was always hungry."

Teacher: "How is it getting a Friday Pack?"
Student: "Oh, Mrs. H., it's so exciting to have food on our shelves!"

The volunteers on our Packing Crews love to come to the warehouse to work. They pack backpacks and re-stock the shelves when they're through. Many volunteers say they would like to come more often than every 6-8 weeks when their Packing Crew is scheduled.

A story from one of our Generous Hands Board members: Standing in the checkout lane at Felpausch, the customer ahead of me declined her Turkey Bucks (coupons that can be used to purchase a turkey near Thanksgiving). The cashier asked if I would like them. I responded that I would love to have them. I would pass them on to the Generous Hands Program to be placed in Friday packs. The cashier asked if that was the program that provided the coupons for eggs, milk and bread. When I responded "Yes," a gentleman behind me shared that his children had received the packs for a while and thanked me. He said they had helped his family through a terrible time and he was very grateful to have food for his kids on the weekends. I thanked him for sharing with me and acknowledged his discomfort. When I told him what a lovely blessing he had given me he said that he hoped one day he would be in the position to provide help for someone else having a hard time.

During one of the tutoring sessions this summer, a 4 year old little girl (entering kindergarten) was told that the kids were going to have ice cream for dessert with their lunch. She started to SHAKE she was so excited!! "We never get ice cream..."

Many of the kids this summer were delighted to receive fresh fruit with their backpacks. One week, watermelons were distributed to the parents when they picked up their packs. One little boy was excited--he'd never had watermelon before.

From another GH Board member: At a playgroup last year a woman shared with me that she had made a visit to a home for professional reasons, and a little girl came to her mom during the visit asking for a snack. The mom asked what she wanted and the little girl brought her Friday pack over and the mom said ok. The mom then turned to my friend and told her how thankful she was for the Friday pack because otherwise she would have said no--there were no other snacks.

Harry’s Story

I received a letter from Harry in April. He was having difficulty meeting his mortgage payment and other commitments. He asked if there was anything that Generous Hands could do to help him. I responded with a letter offering numerous resources that might be able to assist him.

A few weeks later I received a phone call from Harry thanking me for the information. While his situation was dire there seemed to be some options that he could pursue. He asked for continued prayers.

During our conversation he told me this story:

Harry is a divorced, retired father of 2 young boys. Harry’s house sits next to the elementary school and has turned out to be a place for kids to come and hang out. He offers the stray kids a safe place and kind fatherly words. Many of these kids are what he calls “turn outs”. They are the kids whose parents send them out of the house for the day with a “don’t come back until it’s dark” speech. What’s a 9, 10 or 11 year-old child supposed to do all day? The answer for some – go to Harry’s!

As it happened last Thanksgiving, Harry awoke to find a 10 year-old frequent “turn out” on his doorstep. By mid morning Harry had six kids “visiting”. Now he knew he had a dilemma on his hands. Never mind it was a holiday; there wasn’t anything he could fix everyone for dinner. Food supplies had dwindled alarmingly low to a few canned goods.

It was at this precise time that Harry heard a knock on his door and saw a white truck in the driveway. At the door was a gentleman with a very large box of food. He asked Harry to verify his address and handed him the box. With a quick “Happy Thanksgiving” the gentleman drove off leaving Harry standing in the doorway.

All Harry could do was stand frozen to the spot and cry. It was as if the box had fallen right from heaven itself. He whispered thank you to God and to whomever had given out his name for this very special gift.

Harry took the box inside and all of the kids gathered around it. Inside were a ham, potatoes, vegetables, dinner rolls, dessert and many other wonderful food surprises. It was a feast! Nobody could believe this had happened!

All of the kids rolled up their sleeves and helped Harry make the best Thanksgiving dinner any of them had ever had. After all, it was a meal from God himself!

Harry then asked me if I knew anything about how this food box might have come to his house. He had no idea how the box had gotten to him. Harry wanted to say thank you so very much. Through the kindness and generosity of others he was able to provide a holiday meal to kids who would not have even gotten anything at all.

Of course I knew who the anonymous people were. Since the gift givers wished to remain anonymous Harry made me promise that I would thank them and tell them his story. I made Harry promise that he would thank God for loving him and trusting Him.

As Harry told me his story I could tell he was weeping softly on the phone. And, every single time I relay this story to others I myself can only tear up.

Harry’s story is a lesson to each of us. Be open to let God use you and He will. It is a privilege and an honor to share what you have with others. You never know the impact a simple act of kindness will have. You never know when something will fall right out of heaven and land directly on you!

Thank you to everyone who shares their plate of cookies with others!

This page last updated August 19, 2008