These things have been flooding my head this afternoon.

Grateful — I’m truly grateful for so many things.

I had to pause in the parking lot after having my annual mammogram on Wednesday afternoon. Grateful that I have health insurance and that I’m in good health. I can’t help but think of the many people that we serve that don’t have health insurance. Or that are not in good health and as a result need to utilize a food pantry such as The River for assistance.

I’m grateful for the job I get to do, leading an amazing organization that our mission is to serve — food, resources and faith to build a stronger community. We are here for those that would like to go to work, used to go to work, are unable to go to work because of health reasons. We are here for those that do work, but it’s just not enough money to pay all the bills. And we’re here for so many other reasons.

I also am filled with gratitude for the outpouring of support from our generous community, all year long but most particularly the last six weeks.  So many people have come through our doors to serve, to volunteer, to give back, to be part of making a difference to others.  We have been overwhelmed (in a good way) with people asking how they can help The River. Donations of food and money continue to come in as people are giving and giving so generously.

On Monday of this week, a few staff and I received training on different things in our new facility — the HVAC system, the overhead dock doors, the fire alarm system, the kitchen equipment. Things that will be so precious to us. I went home that night with sore feet. Partly because my new boots hadn’t been broken in yet and also because I was breaking them in on a day that I was putting in a lot of steps walking around a building that’s three times the size of our current one.

Having been a part of The River for almost 13 years in a space that has not been very efficient in many aspects, we made due with what we had for so long. This is a whole new chapter for The River. We will be bringing back some programs that we suspended, expanding and reshaping current programs. We’re able to do it because so many people opened their checkbook, sold stock, gave from an IRA distribution and so much more!

The generosity of so many people that have been part of 3301 Packers Avenue again fills me with so much gratitude. Our building is paid for! There’s a lot of things to figure out as we move in January and begin to operate, but I’m confident that we will do the very best we can as we always have no matter the size of the space we work in.

I’m grateful that I get to do this work with an incredible group of people that are the paid staff of The River. Each day I get to see them display our core values of respect, compassion, community, caring and generosity. We’ve had three record-breaking “events” recently: most households served in a day (577), most meals served in a single day (1,340), and busiest week.

To put this all in context, here are some visuals to show how we have grown to meet the increasing need over the last few years.