Thanksgiving: Giving Thanks and Giving Back
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,” Margaret Mead, American anthropologist.
If, like us, you’re preparing for Thanksgiving and thinking not only about “giving thanks” but also about “giving back,” and considering how best to do that, we’d like to offer a little inspiration and invite you to see what’s possible.
Belle Curve storytellers, Tamara Weber, Yeulanda Degala, and Natalie Griffin saw problems and decided to give of themselves, their time, their treasure, and their talent to create solutions. The problems they decided to address were not just any problems. We’re talking really big problems: hunger, environmental waste, inequity, and poverty. Granted, they can’t make these problems go away entirely, but each of them is making a significant dent.
Tamara Weber founded Pete’s Garden, a Kansas City, Missouri based nonprofit organization dedicated to recovering food waste and combating food insecurity. Pete’s Garden repurposes surplus food from local caterers and restaurants to create high-quality, prepared meals for those in need. Through its Kids Feeding Kids program, Pete’s Garden also partners with high school culinary arts programs to engage students in preparing take-home meals for families in their communities. This program provides educators with a standards-based food justice and culinary curriculum focused on increasing food access, reducing food insecurity, and raising awareness around the social and environmental impacts of food waste. [Read Tamara’s story]
Yeulanda Degala, founded Good Neighbors Network in Arlington Heights, IL, as a grassroots effort to support children during the pandemic. Since then it has grown into a thriving, ongoing initiative dedicated to assisting under-resourced students through a variety of programs by partnering with local schools.
“Working through the schools to support students and families will continue to be our focus for the next five years or so according to our strategic plan,” says Degala. “We want to concentrate on areas where we can help fill a gap.” [Read Yeulanda’s story]
Natalie Griffin, a retired special education teacher, co-founded Gerry's Café in Arlington Heights, IL, to employ adults with disabilities.
“I started looking at statistics and found that nationwide, only 20% of adults with disabilities are employed,” said Griffin. In other words, 80% are told “no” over and over again. She started thinking, “Wow, this is a real problem.”
After operating for a little more than a year, Gerry’s Cafe has changed lives by hiring, training, and retaining 37 adults with disabilities. This team has served more than 47,000 customers more than 32,000 cups of coffee, 10,000 sandwiches, and 22,000 bakery items. Perhaps most importantly, Gerry’s has given its staff purpose and community. [Read Natalie’s story]
If you haven’t yet (or even if you have), we invite you to review these stories. We hope you will find them motivating and inspiring as you think about the gifts you have been given, the problems in the world that you would like to solve, and how you might use your gifts to do just that.
We also want you to know that we are grateful for you, dear reader. We appreciate each and every subscriber, paid and unpaid. Thank you for your support.
We have a favor to ask of you. We have a goal to get to 1,000 subscribers by the time March 21 (our anniversary) rolls around again. You can help us get there. If you are enjoying Belle Curve Stories, please consider sharing it with five of your friends or family members. Talk it up at the Thanksgiving table. Help someone subscribe via our website or on the Substack app. You never know! Perhaps by doing so, you can inspire someone else to be the woman they want to be and do the thing they want to do. Help them see what’s possible.
Thank you!
Sandra & Teresa