My son had just been born. I had been up 4 times the night before and I had an awful headache. It was dinner time, my 2 year old daughter was screaming because she was hungry, and my husband was still at work. I was stressed and overwhelmed. Then, my doorbell rang. It was my friend Sarah bringing us dinner. I knew it was going to be gluten free, I knew it was going to be good (simply because I didn’t have to make it!), and best of all, I knew more meals would be on the way in the coming days.
I knew all of this because of a wonderful service called www.TakeThemAMeal.com, a free website used to coordinate meals for those in need, often after an illness, hospitalization, loss of a loved one, birth of a new baby, etc. I had used the site for years to both create meal schedules and receive meals before moving to the city where it is headquartered and meeting one of the owners. I work for them now, and it’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever had because I and many of my friends have benefited from the site so much.
TakeThemAMeal.com is really easy to use. Once a meal schedule is created, you can enter in the address of the person receiving the meal, details about when to drop it off, dietary concerns, and even see what other people are bringing so that no one brings the same thing. I used to have a calendar where I would pencil in who was bringing what on which days, spending lots of precious time trying to get all the details straight. Now it’s done in minutes on a super easy to use website. TakeThemAMeal.com even sends you a reminder email! Here is a sample of what a schedule looks like- http://www.takethemameal.com/
TakeThemAMeal.com is also a useful tool within the body of Christ. A few months ago, one of the members of our church had an unexpected extended hospital stay after the birth of her second child. The meal coordinators quickly updated everyone on the families needs through their TakeThemAMeal schedule. They even used the website to collect money for the family to buy food at the hospital. I wanted to help out and TakeThemAMeal made it easy to serve; it listed all the foods their daughter at home enjoyed and gave instructions for the best times and the best way of delivering the meal. As believers, we have the privilege to serve others in the church and TakeThemAMeal.com a great tool to simplify the “Meal Ministry” process.
To date, over 1.5 million meal schedules have been created to serve over 200,000 families. So consider setting up a meal schedule at TakeThemAMeal.com the next time you hear of a friend, church member, neighbor, co-worker, or family member in need of a break. It’s free, easy to use and a great way to show you care.
By Maureen Witmer
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Also check out our sister site- www.PerfectPotluck.com
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