by Suzanne Lanier, volunteer at The Next Door
Serving is not what we have to do; it’s what we get to do. My daughter and I look forward to Thanksgiving every year, to come to this treasure of time and place – The Next Door.
A few years ago, I volunteered and served lunch every Monday at The Next Door. I remember the looks on the faces of the new clients…a little scared, sometimes a little disheveled, usually a little pale, looking at their new surroundings in this lunchroom. Unsure. Several different times I saw a client, food from the serving line and salad bar stacked all together, mountainous on her plate, just looking at it in awe. Then she ate – every morsel. So hungry for this delicious and nourishing food.
Who knows what these women have been through? Who knows why they have the lives they have? Not me. But I know they hunger. They hunger for nutritious food. For visibility. For love. For a chance. For a change.
And so, at The Next Door, they are fed. A wise and loving man once said, “You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.”
Why do my daughter and I come every year to The Next Door to serve a meal on Thanksgiving Day? Why do we wear goofy turkey hats, play Motown music, laugh, sometimes dance, serve good food, sweep the floor, and wipe the tables? Because we GET to! And, although I cannot explain it, I will tell you that we always leave with more joy than we had when we came.