Blessings

As many of you have probably heard, the freeze that hit CA for over a week has destoyed many orchards. The orchard growers are sufferring greatly with this loss as are others. It is hard to realize how far the loss can reach. For those that do not live in the valley, it may be hard to imagine. Having grown up in the midwest where farms are mostly harvested by machines, it was amazing to find that here the produce is harvested by hand. A very romantic type of harvest that I have learned to love. To know that hands pick the produce that not just my family but people all over this country bring to their tables each night brings warmth and a familiarity to the veggies and fruits as I stand chopping and preparing them each night. These weathered hands are beautiful people that because of this freeze, can no longer feed their own families. They are now without work because there are no oranges to pick. The strawberries and avocadoes have been ruined as well as many other types of beautiful types of food that we so often taken for granted. I remember last summer stopping at a stand with my mother to buy strawberries that had just been picked. This is a stand that I go to often. A small wooden hut built on the edge of the field. Workers spend their days in the sun and the owners are some of the warmest people I have ever met. This day, as my mother and I walked to the hut, there was beautiful song shining from within. This dear weathered soul was singing as she sat waiting for customers. She stopped as we came close and I asked her not stop her singing because her voice was beautiful. Through tears this beautiful little woman explained how her husband was at church but that she had to be at the stand to keep it open to make money for their family. She had decided to make this her church and so was singing. She then continued to explain the horrors that her family had lived and told us to cherish our relationship as mother and daughter as she no longer had her mother. Her family had known such horrors in the "old country" and yet she could sing through tears. We took a moment to bless her and pray with her. At this time I think of her and all those beautiful hands that harvest the food that we so often take for granted as we run to the grocer to grab the food we need for dinner. Please take a moment if you have the time and finances and donate to the Orange Aid. Please help these brothers and sisters of ours to bring food to their tables and to feed their children through these cold months where work is no more. I thank you for your gifts and for the love we have to share. The following link takes you to Orange Aid through the Salvation Army site. They have pledged that all monies that come in for Orange Aid will be given 100% to the workers and that none of the donations will go towards adminstration fees.

https://secure4.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USW_GS-Fresno-Freeze

Blessings-