Welcome back to Kipping it Real with Coach Meg! I am so glad you are here today and every day, but today I want to tell you about the Franciscan Kitchen and the close of our Canned Food Drive.
Most of you know our canned goods went to the Franciscan Kitchen here in Louisville, but do you know why?
In 2018 the Louisville Homeless Census data suggested that there were over 7,000 homeless people here in our own backyard. That number is only expected to climb.
The Franciscan Kitchen is cooking y’all! Located in the heart of downtown on South Preston Street, from 10:30 to 12:30pm, Monday through Friday, there are about 500 people walking through their doors to get a meal at least 5 days a week. They are serving well over 2,500 meals per week. Let me repeat that, 2,500 meals are served PER WEEK! They say 180 POUNDS OF GREEN BEANS CAN BE SERVED IN A SINGLE DAY! The Franciscan Kitchen has a van driven by caring souls to salvage food each day from local businesses in our community like Whole Foods, Longhorn, some Papa John’s, some KFCs, a few Krogers, etc. Kentucky Harvest helps the Franciscan Kitchen find places with unused food around the city each day. Their van then sets out early the morning to collect the available food. The need for our community to not be wasteful is of vast importance. I urge you to read this article https://www.louisville.com/content/food-waste-donation-franciscan-kitchen-dare-care
On a personal note, those giant boxes were set up, I never dreamed they would overflow like they did. It is truly exceptional how this community steps up for those in need. Being friends with kind and giving people like you all is an honor.
Thank you for the generosity this year. Your efforts allowed Fern Creek CrossFit to give over 88 pounds of rice, over 65 pounds of beans, over 60 pounds of green beans, over 45 pounds of oats, 35 plus jars of spaghetti sauce, oils, spices, and more.
I’d like to thank Coach John for his time. On Wednesday of last week, during the power outage, we met at the gym and he helped load can after can, box after box. We then drove downtown to drop off the donations. When we arrived at the Franciscan Kitchen they asked if we needed a service cart for the donations? We said yes and instantly filled that cart. A kind gentlemen said he better get another. Within minutes it became apparent we needed another. He laughed and said he better get the industrial cart this time! The next thing I knew, we had several volunteers slinging 15 lbs. bags of rice over their shoulders, the industrial cart was already loaded, and a fourth cart was ready as well. They were all seemily surprised what one little CrossFit gym out of Fern Creek had done. I shared with the man who brought the first cart out that many people made this possible. It was a moving moment.
That moment was because every single one of you.
“As you grown older, you will discover that you have two hands – one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
Lastly, thank you to those who brought cans in that we never recognized. Thank you to those who contributed to their kid’s canned food drives and couldn’t contribute to this one. Thank you to those who are saving for Toys for Tots. Thank you to those who are saving to make Christmas magical for their loved ones. Thank you to those who have to save to support their CrossFit habit. We see you all. You never owe anyone any explanation for how you spend your money or how you choose to donate it.
We are simply thankful you are here. End of discussion.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. – The Fern Creek CrossFit Coaching Staff.
*After the holidays pass, we are planning a volunteer day with the Franciscan Kitchen where some folks would be kitchen volunteers and some would be food servers. This will take place the last Saturday of January or February. Those two possible dates will be, Saturday, January 25th or Saturday, February 29th. As soon as we have confimation, we will keep you informed.
