We had a freezer meals cook night last night. What is that? Well about 10 of us got together and made meals and froze them. Then when anyone from the parish knows somebody who needs a little care – somebody going through cancer treatment, or just had a death in the family, or a mom of little ones whose husband is out of town, or somebody who just had a baby, or the elderly shut-in neighbor – they can come by and get a meal and deliver it to them.

The freezer is in our garage. Our parish is short on space. So when we first proposed the idea, our pastor was all for it but his question was “Where? Can somebody put the freezer in their garage?” As an empty nester who was in the process of getting rid of baseball equipment and bikes and other kid things, I thought that we could make room for it. And of course, when I talked to The Husband about it, he said “Yes” because he is a generous soul.

So once a month, a group of us get together and assemble the meals. This in itself is a lot of fun. I love that it is a mix of people from our parish. Young and old. Singles and married. With kids or without. We make meals and we get to socialize, meet new friends, drink a little wine, and help our neighbors out. When the meals are all made, we say a blessing over them, asking the Lord to let the recipients know that they are loved and that God is with them.

I bring the meals home and put them in the freezer in our garage. Then I advertise to our parish, in the bulletin and on social media. Anyone who knows somebody who needs a meal just contacts me. Then they come by and pick it up. No reason is too big or too small. Everyone need to know that they are loved and cared for.

People thank me for the meals, but I always thank the people who contact me to pick them up. They are as essential, if not more, than me with the freezer in my garage or those of us who cook the meals. For me, this is community. We are all doing something beautiful together which we could not do on our own.