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~~~
"All right, everyone. I've got some bad news. So listen up."
Tanya O'Brien sat in the spacious dining room of the Northern Indiana Food Bank. The full-time secretary of the organization, she sat with the other staff members and roughly twenty regular volunteers, waiting for the director to speak.
It was a late Monday evening, two weeks before Thanksgiving and her heart was heavy because though she already knew what he was going to say, it didn't make the blow hurt any less.
The director of the NIFB, Brother Nicholas Caulfield, affectionately known in the community as Brother Nick, took a deep breath before continuing, a sad expression on his face.
"Now, everyone, you all know that donations have been down this year," he said. "The economy has really taken its toll on our regular donors. We're finding that the people and companies who used to donate to us, are now either in need of donations themselves or just don't have the extra funds to send to us. As a result, our cash and food donations are now down over fifty percent."
Tanya held her breath, knowing what was coming next.
"Therefore, if our donations aren't up in the next two weeks," he continued, "we'll have to shut down indefinitely. Which means we'll be shutting down before Thanksgiving Day, our busiest time of the year."
A chorus of gasps and groans went up through the small crowd. The Northern Indiana Food Bank had been a saving grace for the past fifteen years. Located in South Bend, Indiana, they were responsible for providing food to six counties, which housed over fifty food pantries, emergency shelters, childcare centers, soup kitchens, senior centers and night shelters that directly served Northern Indiana's homeless, unemployed and working poor.
Every day, year round, the NIFB provided hundreds of pounds of food to the various organizations. Most of the food pantries allowed residents to come in once a month to receive their allotment. In contrast, the counties' shelters fed people daily, as did the soup kitchens and the senior and children's centers. Additionally, on the major holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, the NIFB itself also provided a citywide hot dinner to anyone in need. As a result, the NIFB went through a tremendous amount of food on a daily basis, and always needed donations.
However, this year, due to the challenging economy, the food bank was operating at below fifty percent of its usual inventory. And as more and more individuals and corporate entities drastically lowered or cancelled their donations altogether, while the number of people that needed their help rose just as dramatically, even that fifty percent figure was dwindling rapidly.
Tanya found that she really enjoyed working at the food bank, especially on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. It warmed her heart to be able to help, but this year their circumstances were dire. Her deep brown eyes teared up as she continued to listen to Brother Nick.
"I do have a few ideas up my sleeve," Brother Nick said, smiling. "For example, Joshua, the assistant director, and I will be doing several newspaper and TV interviews to advertise our cause. And here in the office, Deb and Tanya are going to keep making phone calls to local businesses to see if they can donate more to our program."
Tanya nodded over at Deb Ross, the treasurer of the NIFB. For the past month, they'd been calling local companies to secure additional donations, but they weren't making much progress.
"Anyway," Brother Nick continued, "I just wanted to let you know what's going on. And to ask you for your help. We really need a miracle this year, so I'm counting on all of you to help us stay open."
Brother Nick spoke a few moments longer, then adjourned the meeting. Tanya gathered her belongings, put on her coat to protect herself against Indiana's mid-November chill, and headed out to her car. But before she could reach the door, Brother Nick stopped her.
Standing a full six-feet-four inches to her five-feet even, he towered over her. However, his warm smile always put her at ease. He placed a large hand on her shoulder. "Tanya? If you can, come in early tomorrow morning and get started on those donor calls. Every little bit will help."
"Sure, Brother Nick. I'll come in an hour early and be in at about eight."
"Thanks Tanya. And I know that you'll be blessed for your assistance."
Tanya frowned as she pulled her coat tighter, a sudden chill running through her that had nothing to do with the weather. What Brother Nick didn't know is that she could afford to come in early, as she was single and lonely, not having anyone to occupy her time outside of work.
"I think we could all use a miracle this holiday season," she muttered, even more downcast than before, and walked out the door.
~~~
First thing in the morning, Tanya opened up the main office, then went to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. The men in the warehouse opened at nine am, so Tanya had a bit of peace and quiet before the other workers came in.
Since it was so early, no clients were due in yet, but there were still mounds of federal, state, county and city paperwork to finish, in addition to the donor calls that she and Deb had to make.
When the coffee was done, she went to grab a mug out of the cabinet and happened to glance out of the window at the far end of the kitchen. As she saw her reflection, she studied herself.
She loved her rich, cocoa-brown skin and her pleasant features. Her smile was bright and her mid-length dark hair looked great in her natural, voluminous curls. Also, her heart was as big as they came.
However, her twenty-eight years of age were slowly catching up with her. "When did I get old," she wondered as she studied the tiny wrinkles near her eyes and her thickening figure. It seemed like she was just in college, now it was just about ten years later.
"I just wish I were able to finish school," she said sadly, as unhappy memories threatened to consume her.
Sighing, she couldn't afford to think those thoughts yet again, so she took a seat at her desk and got to work.
By the time Deb came in an hour later, Tanya had gotten through the first page of businesses, but with dismal results. By their lunch break, neither of them had had much luck. They received plenty of "No, not this year's," a handful of "maybe's" and only one or two "yes's".
After lunch, as Tanya picked up the phone to dial yet again, she looked toward the ceiling. "We really need a miracle," she said softly. Then she flashed on all of the lonely nights she'd been having lately. "And I really need a miracle," she added.
The next business on her list was the local Kroger grocery store on East Ireland road. She dialed quickly, then waited. A young female voice answered and Tanya asked for the manager. When he came to the phone, she re-introduced herself and launched into her speech about the additional donations they needed for Thanksgiving.
Surprisingly, the manager, Rick Gonzalez, was helpful. He recommitted their prior support of the NIFB and was still impressed with their work, but there was one problem.
"Well, we'd love to help you with some additional donations, Ms. O'Brien," he said, "but this holiday season, Kroger has instituted a new practice: All donation requests must now be processed through our national corporate office first. If you can hold, I'll get you the number."
Though she was a bit put off by the extra hurdles they'd now have to overcome, she was still hopeful. "Okay, Mr. Gonzalez. Thanks."
He came back in an instant. "All right. The name of Kroger's National Director for Corporate Giving is Ms. Christine Parker. She's in New York City. Would you like for me to transfer you to her office?"
"Sure, and thank you."
As she waited, a shiver ran through her. "Goodness! I used to know a Christine Parker. In fact, I had a huge crush on a Christine Parker back at U of M." Then she laughed, embarrassed at her schoolgirl crush. "I mean, what are the odds?"
Just then, a soft, feminine voice came on the line. "Hi, this is Christine Parker for Kroger Corporate Giving. How may I help you?"
Oh my God, Tanya thought. That soft, sweet, yet husky voice? It couldn't be...
The voice spoke again. "Hello?"
