Thanks for feeding the hungry

It was one year ago Oct. 3 when First Presbyterian Church of Cape Girardeau installed the "Neighborhood Lunch Box" at the SW corner of Broadway and Spanish Streets. This was not an original idea, but one that we felt we were called to duplicate, given our downtown location. We were thinking especially of our unsheltered neighbors who have no way of preparing or heating food, and generally, no food pantries or free meals are available on the weekend. We were also concerned about nutrition, so each sack lunch includes ready-to-eat protein (such as tuna or Vienna sausages), a fruit cup, crackers, chips or cookies, and plastic utensils. Bottles of water are also included.

From the beginning, we made a commitment to fill the box seven days a week with eight lunches per day. But our plan was to get the word out, and our hope was that other churches and organizations would want to help. This hope is being realized, and we want to publicly say thank you to First Baptist Church, LaCroix Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church. Other organizations and individuals have also helped with lunches, supplies and monetary donations, and we are grateful.

There's plenty of food in the world for everyone to have enough, and no person should ever go hungry. It takes a village. Thank you, Cape Girardeau, for helping us show love to our neighbors.

REV. ELLEN GURNON, First Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church, Cape Girardeau