A Peek at the Messy Kitchen’s 2nd Annual Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry
This post comes way belated because, well, I’ve barely had time to catch a breath! Between cooking for Thanksgiving #2 and #3, cooking with the leftovers from Thanksgiving #1, #2 and #3, trying to burn off a few of the calories from Thanksgiving #1, #2, #3 and said leftovers, a trip to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies win the Commonwealth Cup, getting a Christmas tree, decorating said Christmas tree (currently half-way there), and doing the six month post-implementation surveys for the last wave of the program I’ve been helping out with, my free time has been limited. Seriously, y’all when can I Netflix and Chill?
Also, I’ve had a terrible case of writers block as of late so I hope you enjoy the pictures from our Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry rather than expecting me to wax poetic.
Anyways, our 2nd Annual Friendsgiving was a huge success, in every sense of the word. Not because of anything I did, but because my friends and family are just really, really generous humans who donated to the cause, showed up in droves with amazing food and wine in tow, and filled my house with so much positive energy I could still feel it the next day. Honestly, it was the first time that I felt genuinely, continuously, solely positive for the first time since the election. I know most (all?) of my guests had been experiencing similar emotions, and several friends mentioned to be how good it felt to have an opportunity to channel that not-so -positive energy into good, and how empowering it felt to do so. 
That sentiment was evident in our end result. When I set what felt like a ridiculously ambitious goal of $1,857.01 (one cent more than the amount raised at, our first Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry) I thought that perhaps we might not meet it… but we met and exceeded it, bringing in a total of $2,168.26, which will go directly toward helping connect kids with healthy meals. I was also really excited that we had 48 individual donors this year. In many ways this number means even more to me than the amount raised, because it reflects nearly 50 kind folks who were excited to take action to make a real difference for hungry kids.
The best part about all of this is that when we talk about connecting kids with healthy meals, we don’t mean just one meal. No Kid Hungry works to increase access to the child federal nutrition programs like school breakfast and summer meals, creating sustainable solutions so that those kids can count on receiving those meals every.single.day. There’s a lot that’s uncertain in this country right now, but the fact that it is in all of our best interest for every child to get the food they need to learn and grow is not of them – nor is the fact that we have the tools to make it happen. A pretty exciting opportunity we have, I’d say.
So now that you’ve heard why we do it, ready to see what Friendsgiving is all about?
Well, that’s a wrap. Until next year folks! And guess what? You can host your very own Friendgiving for No Kid Hungry and have this much fun, all for a good cause!
