Annual Harvest Team Breakfast for Mother Hubbard's Cupboard Food Pantry

Yesterday was the Annual Harvest Team Breakfast for Mother Hubbard's Cupboard Food Pantry – a great way to start the day. I sat next to a former client of "the Hub," Desta Ricketts, who now serves on its board. She said that telling her story as a speaker at last year's breakfast was one of the most empowering and satisfying moments of her life. "It's about so much more than the food."

This fantastic organization, recipient of the Sycamore Foundation's "Best of the Best" Indiana Achievement Award (10/23/2009), was started by two young mothers, Jessica Mott and Laura Marks. The mission of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is:

• To provide healthful, wholesome food to people in need, as well as nutrition and gardening education and
• To provide our services in ways that build community while enhancing the dignity, respect, and self-care of all involved.

We watched this video yesterday, and heard a moving endorsement from board member Felisha Legette-Jack, coach of the IU Women's Basketball team; she recalled the experience of hunger as a child. I also learned that Monroe County, for all of its resources, has more poverty than any other region in the state. That shocked me and made me think about how much work there is to do.