Feed a Child One Candle At a Time

Hand-made from paper by Donald Herring

October 16th is World Food Day.  

More on that below.

There are so many things I could write about on that topic and something happened today that pointed me exactly where I was supposed to go with it.   Nothing is a coincidence, in my opinion.

As I've mentioned before ideas and information that I'm supposed to share kind of just fall in my lap.  Today we were driving on I-20 in Texas and made a quick decision to stop at a random place in a random town where we've never stopped.  It turned out to be a new gas/food/gift shop/all-things-to-all-people kind of place.  I walked into the ladies room and was surprised to see a wonderfully smelling lit candle.  I don't think I've ever seen that in a public restroom before.

It was very attractive and I noticed a lid sitting on the counter that had a tag on it.  Glancing at it I saw a picture of a nine-year-old child named Nithin from India, and a statement that "1 jar candle feeds 1 child for 1 day".  Hummmm..... my kind of thing, for sure!

I wandered around the store and found the candle company's display.  I chose two matching medium-sized jars both with wonderful scents, Vanilla Creme and Remember When, which is actually a cinnamon, fall spice type of scent.  Off to the cash register I went.  All in the name of Blog Research, of course.

Besides a great looking product that smells awesome, burns clean, and lasts for hours, Bridgewater Candle Company does what the tag says it does. www.bridgewatercandles.com They use proceeds from sales of their candles (made in South Carolina, by the way) to provide food for children in several developing countries, many of them in orphanages.  Their nonprofit is called Rice Bowls.  www.ricebowls.org  I will write more about them next week.

If you're buying a gift for yourself or others and it can also benefit someone in need, why not seek that option?  There are so many opportunities to serve in this way.  How easy! Plus the recipient knows you put a little more thought into choosing something special for them.

World Food Day is "A day of action against hunger".  The goal of this annual event is to raise public awareness about hunger challenges and encourage people worldwide to take action in the fight against hunger.  The day is largely about food, farming and hunger.  You are probably already supporting farmers close to home, but there are millions of small-scale farmers around the world that we can support by making more intentional choices at your grocery or by supporting organizations such as Oxfam, www.oxfamamerica.org or you can see other great ideas at the Do One Thing site www.doonething.org

I know I need to do more to help alleviate hunger.  Do you?

What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. 

Job 22:28