The end of this 2023-2024 Rotary Year is approaching. The year’s Presidential theme, CREATE HOPE in the WORLD, set by Rotary International President Gordon R. McInally will soon be celebrated by Rotarians SHARING HOPE WITH THE WORLD at the 2024 RotaryInternational Convention.
“We must refocus our efforts to build peace across the globe,” he said. “And we must help each other find peace within – and share that ethic of care to the people we serve.”
It’s a message that has driven this year’s Rotary goal of bringing hope to those affected by mental health challenges.
It was no coincidence that the 2024 Bedford and Concord Rotary meal-packing effort to address food insecurity locally was named Hope for the Hungry.
Few of us can fathom the depth of the impact food insecurity has on so many people in our communities. Often weekly and daily, they face the challenges of juggling finances while unsure where their next meal or food for their family is coming from. For those also affected by mental health challenges, adding food insecurity can be overwhelming. Hope for the Hungry strives to help them “find peace within.”
Partnering with Meals of Hope enabled our “hope”-giving triad. Gordon McInally urged Rotarians to Create Hope in the World by “getting involved and taking action at a critical moment in history,”
Now is one of those moments. It’s a moment when YOU, someone instilled with the desire and commitment to bring HOPE to someone in need, can get involved and take action. Whether a Rotarian or not, your participation in the Hope for the Hungry meal-packing on Saturday, April 27th, will help us package the thousands of meals that will feed hungry, food-insecure people throughout surrounding local communities. From 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Bedford campus of Middlesex Community College, you can team up with Bedford, Concord, Billerica, Burlington, and Lowell Rotarians and friends to spend just a couple hours assembling thousands of meal packages that will then be distributed by local food pantries and the Merrimack Valley Food Bank.