Janet`s September 2020 letter to the Community

September – a month when we celebrate harvest.  For the first time in a long time I have a small crop of my own.  I have been growing a few vegetables, and I’ve already harvested some rainbow chard and a couple of courgettes (delicious).  I’m waiting for my tomatoes, but it does look very promising.  I was pondering this while watching a rainstorm and being aware of how very fortunate I am.  Yes, we have had very hot temperatures, and not enough rain and then, suddenly, torrential rain.  But no matter how bad the weather is for my own little harvest, I know that I won’t starve.

I didn’t have to starve in lockdown either, when we had to queue to get into supermarkets (how bizarre was that?) and we weren’t sure that what we wanted would be on the shelves.  I didn’t even always have to go to the shops, because kind friends got my shopping for me when I didn’t have time to stand in the queue.  But no matter how difficult or inconvenient it was to get the food I like and enjoy, I knew that I wouldn’t starve.

How very different it is for huge numbers of the world’s poorest people, where disastrous harvests mean real hunger and food shortages necessitate enormously long queues for aid.  And we mustn’t forget that there are people in our own community who are suffering too, from the structural injustices in our society exacerbated by Covid-19, and who are reliant on the generosity of others.  If that applies to you, and you need help, please be in touch.

But if you, like me, have found yourself somewhat better off because we haven’t been able to go out and spend money during lockdown, or to take the holidays we’d hoped for, can I encourage you to consider sharing some of that excess with those less fortunate, and to be more generous than usual this harvest?  Our harvest offerings will, once again, go the Redbridge Foodbank.  Do have a look at the list of items they particularly need, or make a donation (see page 15) so that the organisation can buy goods that are in short supply.  Then, thinking of the wider world, there is the Disasters Emergency Committee fund for those particularly badly affected by Covid-19.  Donations to this fund will also go to help those in great need.

As we give thanks for God’s goodness to us at harvest-time, let us remember those who are less fortunate, and use our gratitude to spark generosity and give someone else something to be thankful for.       With every blessing,   

Janet        

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