#SFTP in the Time of COVID-19

Photo by Greg Conderacci

The days of our years are three score years and ten...

-- Psalm 90

A year ago, when I reached the full biblical lifetime of 70, I thought I’d share the life lessons of my advanced age.  After all, I had been born in the first half of the last century.  I had survived the 60s – twice.

But the procrastinating old journalist in me “sat on the story,” hoping for a better “angle.”

Well. It’s. Here. Now.

Photo by Gregg Landry

The great stuff I had missed earlier in the 20^th century – The Great Influenza and The Great Depression – I get to experience all at once. I don’t even need my ever-narrowing attention span.  It’s like binge-watching The History Channel while drinking Red Bull.  Very 21^st Century.

Okay, so here’s The Big Life Lesson: Share the Frigging Toilet Paper. Totally. Like #SFTP.

Think about it. Exactly how much toilet paper do you need? In what way are you better off if you use twice as much a day?  Go ahead, look in your closet. You have plenty, don’t you?

Now look around and apply the Share the Frigging Toilet Paper Principle. Some people have enough for several lifetimes.  Others have little to none.  The SFTP Principle applies to all kinds of paper: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, loans, checks and, of course, cash.

Thanks to COVID-19 there’s been some “paper losses.” In other words, a lot less paper to go around. And a lot more people have little to none.  So, I’m going to share while I can.

I mean, hey, I’ll be 71 in a couple weeks.  Two of my college roommates died last year and another just had open heart surgery. The coronavirus is smacking its microbial lips every time I step out the door.

For my last birthday, my family did a wonderful thing. They set up a special fund called “Shifting Gears” to divert my birthday present “paper” to folks who really need it: the homeless and hungry served by Our Daily Bread Employment Center. I’m sending money there and you can, too. If you’re looking to share some of your “paper” with people who desperately need it, there’s no better way. Just click on this link: cc-md.org/shifting-gears. 

Thank you for SFTP!

Hungry For Change? 35 Years of ODB

           

Sr. Josanna Abromaitis 1944-2005

Thirty-five years ago, Sister Josanna Abromaitis SSND swung open the doors of a little storefront soup kitchen in Baltimore and invited about 100 hungry men and women in for a hot lunch.

            Today, on the anniversary of her death, Our Daily Bread is Maryland’s largest and most famous soup kitchen, having served more than 7 million meals over almost 13,000 consecutive days.  The program, which once served lunch to the Pope, has transformed thousands of lives, including both its guests and the 10,000 volunteers that make it possible. 

            Catholic Charities of Baltimore is celebrating Our Daily Bread’s anniversary with a free poverty forum October 26 at Loyola University of Maryland from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.  “Hungry for Change: How Our Daily Bread Transforms Lives” will feature Prof. Kathryn Edin of Johns Hopkins, author of $2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, and Sr. Patricia Chappell, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA.

            There will also be a panel with Harold Smith, former Catholic Charities Executive Director who conceived of the program, volunteers, and former guests who have experienced ODB’s transforming impact.  Since I was lucky enough to play a role in the founding of the program, I’ll be Master of Ceremonies.

            To register for the free program, please visit cc-md.org/ODB35.