Today Hunter enjoyed his last day at AZ Brainfood and I was a little emotional thinking of what this hour every Thursday morning for the last two years has done for us and our relationship. We have created a friendship and bond I couldn’t have developed otherwise. Not only that, I’ve come to know some of his friends even better as they’ve served side-by-side with us. (For some reason it was easy to get girls to come volunteer – much harder to get his guy friends to join!)

Every week Hunter walks in (before everyone else shows up) he’s greeted with high fives and smiles and then he gets to work. He pulls out his tables and surveys what food needs to be filled. He empties boxes of food into bins and keeps the backfill stocked. He is good at what he does and does it with a smile. They love him!

Several weeks ago, we celebrated the millionth bag of food – a huge milestone and it was fun to know we have contributed two years to that total.

This is the founder of the organization and she loves Hunter, and he loves her. That love has grown out of serving together which is beautiful. Although they won’t see each other on Thursday mornings anymore, we are lucky enough to attend the same church congregation and I’m sure these two will share a special bond going forward.

This is the original junior high group, just Hunter and Grace. We are good family friends and we decided this would be a great opportunity for our kids. Although we’ve had so many junior high kids come and join over the course of two years, these two are the regulars. They’re the only two who show up every week. But it’s been fun as they’ve influenced others to serve when they can.

(Just last week they got two friends to serve with them – I love to see teens packing food for local kids. It creates a level of compassion they wouldn’t otherwise experience.)

Hunter’s time is done and it’s been a good run. It’s now time to pass the torch to his little brother who is anxious to get involved and is excited to serve. And I’m anxious to have an hour set aside every week to serve beside him. Maybe by the time Briggs is old enough to come we’ll be packing the 2 millionth bag!