A Widow’s Mite

I wanted to pass along a short, but powerful story that my sister, Sandi, experienced firsthand this week:

On Wednesday night, my sister and others from her church were volunteering at Solomon Center, a food pantry in the Cincinnati area. They have been running very low on supplies lately, as the need has increased twofold and they’ve not been able to financially to double their supplies. As a result, they had a list of items that they were out of posted on white board.

A guest using a walker to get around came down to receive services. While there, he must have scanned the white board and seen that the food pantry was out of shampoo. After he received his order, he slowly ascended up the stairs, visibly struggling with his walker on each step. Once outside the Center, he walked in the pouring, driving rain to his car that was parked on the other end of the lot. Pushing his walker aside, he climbed into his car and got a plastic cup filled with—of all things—shampoos from a hotel. The old man then got back out of the car, walked all the across the parking lot with his walker, down the stairway, and—now thoroughly soaked to the bone—gave the gift to Sandi and her crew to help people who needed shampoo. Without fanfare, he then walked back up the stairs and back to his car to go home.

The volunteers at the Center were all humbled and overwhelmed by his generosity. Just like the widow who gave the mite in Jesus’ parable, this man gave out of his poverty. How many of us do the same?