There is a Food Pantry near my house. Every Sunday during the service as a physical manifestation of our commitment to service ("service is our prayer"), congregation members bring food from home, which is collected by the children and brought to the chancel. The following Monday, one of our members takes it over to the Pantry.

The other way in which we support the Food Pantry is to volunteer our time to distribute food to customers. One of our members is on the Board of the Pantry, and does all the financial work, including tracking shipments from the Los Angeles Food Bank.

I have decided to be one of the volunteers distributing food to homeless and low income people. I live in what used to be an upper middle class neighborhood (BB--before Bush), so you can imagine my surprise when I went for training Friday and then again day before yesterday. This Food Pantry serves 745 families a month (1,675 people in all). This is the face of the Great Recession. I had no idea there were so many needy people in my neighborhood.

Every client is treated with respect and his/her dietary needs accommodated as much as possible. In addition to individual donations and food from the Food Bank, the Food Pantry is also supported by donations of food from nearby grocery stores (including TJ's).

It's exhausting work. I'll volunteer as long as I continue to have the stamina to serve in this capacity. Then, when I become a little old lady, move on to something less strenuous, less lifting and stretching, reaching and talking. But for now, it works.

Working at the Food Pantry is an education in the resilience and determination of people who have lost so much, but are not giving up. Their stories are incredible; I listen while I fill their order. Sometimes it seems they just need someone to listen to them.

Service is our prayer.