When you pledge to help feed the hungry, here’s what happens:

Somewhere in South Tucson —
— A widowed grandmother will have a meal that day.
— A nursing mother will get the nutrition she needs to feed her baby.
— A child won’t go to sleep hungry.
— A man may not rummage through a trash can looking for cast-off bits of food that no one else wanted.

Someone, somewhere, somehow will get through another day, and for just a few moments, that look of frightened desperation may ease up because they know someone cared enough to give them a meal.

Does it matter? You bet it does! We wish we could tell you how much your lunches really matter. And how urgently your help is needed. Just one Saturday morning every 4 weeks can mean that 14 additional people get to eat that day—or not.

Immanuel is one of many organizations in Tucson who regularly help to feed the hungry through donations of sack lunches to the Casa Maria Free Kitchen. Located in the Santa Rita neighborhood of South Tucson, Casa Maria feeds nearly 1,000 people every day—local residents and homeless alike. Immanuel’s commitment is for 500 lunches every 4 weeks. Immanuel members prepare 350 lunches at home, and our Deacons prepare 150 at church.

What’s in a lunch?
— 2 meat and cheese sandwiches
(Special note: If making sandwiches without meat, label the bag (“PB&J” for example). Please don’t mix meat sandwiches with non-meat sandwiches.)
— a piece of fruit (such as a banana, apple, pear, or orange), and
— a dessert (2 cookies, 1 brownie, etc.)

We are asked to prepare very simple sandwiches using only butter or margarine on the bread (no mayo, no mustard, no lettuce, no tomato). Any type of meat or cheese may be used in the sandwiches—bologna, ham, roast beef, olive loaf, sliced turkey or chicken—they all make great sandwiches!

Many Immanuel families have “pledged” to make a certain number of lunches every 4 weeks. These pledges make a huge difference, because the Deacons know what they can count on.

Will you help? Here’s what your commitment would look like: It would take 2 or 3 hours and about $10-$20 to buy the ingredients, assemble the sandwiches, bag a couple of cookies, and put them in a brown paper sack with a banana. Then you would bring the lunches to church between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. every 4th Saturday.

Thank you for caring!!