What 3 Million Pounds of Food Actually Means

When people talk about ending hunger, they often talk about numbers.

Three million pounds. Five hundred families a day. Sixteen hundred a week.

Numbers are useful. They tell you something happened. But after years of serving at Crossfire Ministries, I've become convinced that a number this size only means anything once you understand what actually moves it.

Three million pounds doesn't move on its own. It moves because 506 people gave 112,004 hours of their time this year — sorting, stocking, loading, showing up before the sun is fully up because a truck needed unloading. Members from our partnering churches, businesses, and community members rotate through, keeping that system fed and staffed. It moves because donors keep giving in the seasons nobody's watching.

What strikes me most is what happens on the other side of that number. I see teachers stretching a grocery budget between paychecks. I see working families doing everything right and still coming up short. I see seniors on fixed incomes and military families who moved here for a job that didn't stretch as far as they expected. Every one of them is one part of three million pounds — one week, one family, one decision that didn't have to be impossible.

I don't take credit for that number. I get to watch it happen. The credit belongs to the people who showed up.

Hunger Action Month asks a fair question: what does it actually take to move a number like this?

My answer is simple. It takes ordinary people who keep deciding, week after week, that this is worth their time.

If your business, church, or organization has been looking for a place to invest in something real, I'd be glad to show you around.

— Renee Beebe Executive Director, Crossfire Ministries

Read the full article, with sources and data, on our LinkedIn page.