“Where are we going to stay Grandma?” the tiny girl asked. “You're staying with me now,” the kindly grandmother responds while stroking the innocent child's face. “Why, Grandma? Why are we staying with you now?” the tiny tot inquires with a confused little face. “Well, because your mommy and daddy are going to have to go away for a while. You'll be fine here, and your three brothers and sisters will too,” the grandmother says as she tries to comfort the child.
This is only one of the many people who come through the doors of the MRZ CENTRE outreaches that occur every second and forth Saturdays of each month. When people come to MRZ CENTRE and tell their story, the outreaches become the needed bridge just to make it for a few more days. Through no fault of their own, grandparents inherit grandchildren who move into their home because their children have been arrested. One woman has four, and another man has five, and while these loving grandparents love their grandchildren, four and five extra mouths to feed and five little bodies to clothe becomes an additional burden financially that is almost too much to ask anyone. “Where do I get some clothes?” the grandmother asks. “Thank you so much for the extra food. It's so hard to make it just driving a dump truck for a living,” the kindly grandfather shares. These hard working older citizens are just trying to do the best they can with a difficult situation.
Today there will be other stories. Today there will be more who have difficult times upon them, and today there will be caring individuals who give a couple hours on their Saturday morning at the MRZ CENTRE to reach out to others like these grandparents to just say “we care.” What would happen if this small outreach idea were to spread like wildfire throughout all the nation? What would grandparents in these circumstances think about their neighbors who care in an outreach like this? What would grandchildren who find themselves relocated into their grandparents home believe about the people at the outreach who help them get food, clothing and shoes?
Who knows, maybe that “loving your neighbor” thing would catch on again, and the world would indeed be a better place to live.
Until tomorrow...Why Say More?
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