Chat with Cat: Sharing the Plenty, Reducing the Waste

For the month of November, Chat with Cat will be highlighting nonprofit organizations whose missions are tied to that of Montreat Conference Center. For more information on Nonprofit Awareness Month, check out materials from the N.C. Center for Nonprofits.

It seems appropriate to feature this particular organization/project this week. For most of us, this week is an annual holiday dedicated to stuffing ourselves with stuffing, and just generally eating a whole lot of food.

Another one of my favorite times of the year that involves a lot of eating, was always the summer week when we cam to a conference at Montreat. My choir always attended the Worship & Music Conferences, but I know that for many, the Youth Conferences, too, were occasions of plenty.

Of course, it's important to remember during both of these times that there are many people in all our communities who do not have much to eat. This should first of all make us thankful for what we have, but beyond that it should also challenge us to be good stewards of the food resources to which we have access.

One way that the Montreat community endeavors to do this during those food-filled summer weeks is through a ministry of the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry known as Second Loaf. On each Saturday morning during the main conference season, volunteers set up a tent and some tables to collect food. And as each youth group and choir leaves Montreat in vans, SUVs and buses, they drop off boxes and bags and piles of food.

I'm sure that if you have ever tried to purchase a week's worth of food for 15 teenagers, you are familiar with the uncertainty of how much they will eat. Thanks to Second Loaf, that uncertainty is put to good use--all the food collected is taken to the SVCM, where local families line up to receive it that very morning.

The unique thing about this ministry is what food they take. They take it all: opened or unopened, they even take cooked leftovers in Glad containers and Ziplocs. The nonperishables--the canned and boxed goods--are shelved at the SVCM for future use, but everything else goes out to the community and feeds a family immediately.

So not just on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year, let's think about ways we might be able to be better stewards of our food--either through sharing our leftovers with others, or through taking steps to reduce the food that goes uneaten.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

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Cat is the Sales Associate at Montreat Conference Center. She loves helping people plan the perfect Montreat Experience and would love to hear from you about how this blog can help you.

Cat can be reached at catw@montreat.org or at @Cat_Montreat.