I have the privilege of working alongside an incredibly dedicated and passionate team. Each person inspires me and teaches me something meaningful every single day. One of my favorite rhythms each week is our Tuesday staff meeting—a space where we share stories of meaningful interactions with guests and volunteers, collaborate to solve challenges, and dream together about how we can deepen our impact for our hungry neighbors.

A couple of months ago, the Easter Ham Giveaway became the focus of one of those conversations. Together, we explored important questions: How can we make this more meaningful? More efficient? What opportunities and limitations do we face with our limited space? What additional volunteers will we need to bring this vision to life? These are exactly the kinds of questions I’ve come to value from our guest engagement, operations, and volunteer staff.

Then, there are the questions that I’m compelled to bring to the conversation: Are we being intentional about being relational, curious, and caring? Are we creating space to demonstrate the love of Jesus with neighbors who are often unseen or unknown?

N.T. Wright captures this beautifully in Surprised by Hope: “God’s new world of justice and joy…was launched when Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning…and he calls his followers to be new creation people here and now, bringing signs and symbols of the kingdom to birth on earth as in heaven.”

No, Easter hams themselves aren’t symbols of the kingdom of God. But I can say with confidence that placing them into the hands of over 400 families the past two weeks became an expression of justice, beauty, and love. A small but meaningful signpost pointing toward a future hope breaking into our present work.

I pray that you and your family are able to make space this Easter to celebrate the hope of the resurrection. Lastly, thank you. Thank you for supporting the mission of the food bank by being an agent of love and justice to our hungry neighbors in need. I am truly grateful.