A Bag of Groceries

The year that I lived in a boarding house I shared a bathroom with 4 people and a kitchen with 6.  My $10/week corner room with 2 windows was large enough for me to have a single bed against the wall to double as a couch, a desk and chair, a dresser, and a small stuffed chair with a side table and lamp.  Because there was no closet, it also held a $50 metal wardrobe from Montgomery Ward’s.

I was working fulltime and going to school fulltime.  Well, I went to classes when I had gas in the car to get there.  Money was scarce for me and the others in the house.  Everyone was busy, and while we were friendly we were not friends.  Since we were all going to be there on Thanksgiving we decided to have a potluck.  Hotdogs were on the menu. 

Wednesday after work I made Jell-O and as I was sitting down to play the piano in the parlor, the doorbell rang.  When I opened the front door no one was there.  I looked up and down the street but it was empty, and then noticed on the porch a brown paper bag with my name written on it in black marker.  I took the bag into the kitchen and started unpacking it.  In it were all the fixin’s for a Thanksgiving dinner.  My neighbors and I had a lovely traditional meal thanks to someone’s generosity. 

A couple of weeks ago I got the mail from my box in the lobby and as I was riding the elevator up to my condo, I thumbed through the envelopes.  There was one that I initially thought was an apply-for-a-credit-card type solicitation, but something seemed different.  Like opening the door long ago, inside there was a bag of groceries in the form of a gift card to Jewel for $100 from “a fan,” someone who knows that money is tight once again.

During the decades in between the two different doorbells of groceries I have done some things to pay forward such kindness and charity.   I’m sure not enough.  I have also tried to work on receiving such surprises with grace, since I’ve learned that for me, it is more difficult to receive than to give.

Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.”  If you receive a gift this season, receive it with kindness.

If you have extra to share, I ask that you consider the organization for which I work.  By donating money that helps to provide entrepreneurs with needed financing, you support local small businesses.  Visit our website, www.accionchicago.org and click on Donate Now or check out our upcoming event, Taste of Accion, and purchase a ticket (half is a donation) and come and meet my great colleagues and taste and see firsthand the food, beverages, and products of some of our clients.

Why consider us?  Those we serve are unable to secure financing from traditional sources such as banks because their need is too small or they have poor or no credit.  Qualifying for a loan from us validates a small business owner’s confidence in their dream. Opening or expanding a small business gives the owners and families a sense of security and pride.  The businesses stabilize neighborhoods, and as those enterprises grow, our clients hire others.  Your donation of any size is like a bag of groceries for our clients.

In these days when, like me, so many are still struggling, and when we continue to see greed in so many places, it is nice to be part of a company that is doing well while doing good. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marilyn