Monday, June 28, 2010

Pleased as Punch for Patrick


Patrick (center) received our 30,000th sack lunch. Volunteers Jonathan Woods and David Dickinson are at his side. Please see the full story below.











A MILESTONE TO REMEMBER


We recently sat down to tally our total number of sack lunches served since 2003. We landedon 29,949, give or take a few.

That was Thursday, May 20 – one day before we were scheduled to serve 110 lunches in Tulsa on Friday, May 21.

Plans were quickly put in motion to celebrate sack lunch No. 30,000. We had a very specific prayer for its recipient: “God, let this person be honored.”

We like to have fun with such festive occasions, taking tons of photographs and launching balloons carrying tags that say “Lift up a life – fillingthevoid.com.”

We also filled the 30,000th lunch with all kinds of extras, including a cherry turnover and the largest roast beef sandwich Arby’s makes. The honor came with a prize, too: an official Filling The Void ball cap.

About 95 people passed through our serving lines that day, including Patrick Hand. By no coincidence, we believe God personally handpicked him in answer to our prayer.

As we talked and prayed with him, he shared how all the fuss made him feel special. That’s exactly what we wanted. Helping people see their significance is at the heart of what we do.

Patrick found Filling The Void more than a year ago through a friend. A lot of people find our outreaches precisely the same way.

Life hasn’t been easy for Patrick and his wife, who suffered a heat stroke a while back. Patrick says he helped her as long as he could until she required nursing care. Please pray for them.

Our next big bag will be No. 35,000. The milestone may occur near the end of 2010, but 2011 is more likely. We can’t wait!

Sack Lunch Celebrations
No. 10,000: July 11, 2007
No. 30,000: May 21, 2010