I gave up my parking space - and it was worth it

Last night was cold. Very cold. My kids didn't want to go out. I didn't want to go out. If it had been just another Cub Scout meeting the boys and I would have been in the apartment watching the tube or arguing over who did or did not finish their homework.

But it was not just another Cub Scout meeting. It was food drive night. Our small pack of scouts had collected food for the food shelf at Neighborhood House, an incredible facility on the West Side of Saint Paul. So we bundled up, gave up our coveted parking space during the snow emergency and made our way over to Neighborhood House (NH).

We were greeted by Christi, a friend of my from before the boys were born. She raises money and awareness for NH. The food shelf is only one of the many, many services NH brings to the community. (If I sound like a fan, I am).

The boys put their bags of goods on a huge scale and when all was done over 400 lbs. of food was donated. I learned from a grateful Christi that it would last about one morning. The need out there is great. I understood because it was only 2 short years ago the boys and I were using a food shelf to survive a very bad patch in our lives. I really appreciated having this resource in my community.

Now comes my preachy part. If you do nothing else to get into the giving spirit this holiday please go and give a bag of food to a local food shelf. I understand if you don't have the means, but if you do you will really be doing a good thing. I know the boys felt good after our trip.

Of course they also felt good about weighing the whole scout pack on the food scale before we left.