In February, we decided to do a service project. Our goal was to earn enough money to make 100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give to Martha's Table.
From their website:
MAKE TRAIL MIX OR SANDWICHES
Every night, our mobile food truck, McKenna’s Wagon, rolls out to serve hundreds of homeless and hungry neighbors a hot meal, fresh fruit, trail mix, and sandwiches.
We ask that sandwiches are either peanut butter and jelly, or meat and cheese, and are made with whole wheat bread. Please individually wrap sandwiches in bags so that they can easily be distributed, and refrain from applying condiments to extend shelf life. When possible, we ask that sandwich bags are labeled to indicate sandwich type, or are stored in boxes labeled either “Peanut Butter & Jelly” or “Meat & Cheese” for ease of distribution, and so that we can determine which sandwiches require refrigeration!
Looking for inspiring ways to organize a sandwich making get together? Click here for our fun sandwich-making kit!
We went with the PG&J because it's cheaper, easier for kids, and we don't have to refrigerate. We figured that if each kid earned $5 and donated it, we'd have $35, enough for 100 sandwiches!
So everyone went home and worked. Cameron earned money cleaning the church. Xander took care of his neighbor's dog. Ellis and Lillian made sugar cookies, posted a picture on Facebook, and some kind neighbors bought their cookies and even donated extra! Everyone else told me what they did, but I can't remember them all right now. But they were all wonderful. Here's what we ended up with at the end:
And, when I went to the grocery store, the food was cheaper than I expected - the food for 100 sandwiches only cost me $26. So you know what I did? I went and bought enough for 200 sandwiches!! It filled my shopping cart up. I got some boxes, too, so I could carry 20 loaves of bread. It turns out they weren't enough boxes, though!
Now I was a little worried. 200 sandwiches is a lot of sandwiches to make in 1 hour! I hoped that we could get the work all done in time.
On Wednesday night, we all showed up at the Kendrick's house. They have a perfect dining room table for making lots of sandwiches. We had the boys on one side and the girls on the other, each making sandwiches as fast as they could. Sister Spanbauer packed the sandwiches in the boxes.
Soon the jelly started to run out. The jelly spreaders really made it stretch until the bread was gone, too. The boxes ran out and Sister Kendrick was sent to search for something to put the rest of the sandwiches in. When we were all done, we had 5 sandwich bags left. We'd made 195 sandwiches!
My favorite thing about these pictures is the picture of Jesus Christ behind us. That wasn't done on purpose, but whenever I look at the pictures I remember why we did this project.
Ellis and Lillian weren't content with *almost* 200 sandwiches, so they went home and made 5 more sandwiches. Now we have 200!
The next morning, everyone had to go to school, so Sister Merrill (that's me!) took Sam, Martha and Jane to help her drop off the sandwiches. We drove to the address and couldn't find anywhere to park, so we drove down the alley and found the back entrance. Lucky us, that was where the donations go!
We had to take a picture of Martha at Martha's Table because, "Hey, it's MY table!" We gave them the extra unopened jar of peanut butter from our soiree the night before. And $10 that we hadn't spent on groceries. They can use that to buy extra sandwich bags they need, when they get food donations.
We took all the boxes (Sam was a great helper!) over to the loading dock and asked a guy working on carrying stuff around where to put it. "You can just stack it right here. Thanks! Do you need a receipt?" Since none of you pay taxes, I told him you didn't need a tax receipt (you can ask your parents to explain that if you want.) So that was it. I asked him if he'd take a picture of us to prove that we'd been there to all of you.
Everyone there (we saw 3 or 4 people in the 5 minutes we spent there) were really busy. They were working hard to get all the food they give people in the right places at the right time. They were really glad we'd contributed, but didn't really have time to stand around and tell us how amazing we were. I thought of what Jesus taught:
"Verily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven." (3 Nephi 13:1)
I was glad they hadn't made a big deal about our donation. I would rather do something quietly and have Heavenly Father happy with me than having a bunch of people I don't even know patting me on the back for making sandwiches. Heavenly Father knows why we did it.
This is what it looked like when we drove away. Not very different than when we arrived, but with 3 boxes and a bag of sandwiches they didn't have before.
Good job, kids. 200 people are going to have a sandwich tonight that wouldn't have.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25 34-40
This is so wonderful.
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