I recently took our two kids to the Little Free Pantry in McKinney after gently walking them through the importance of what it means to give back, even to people we don’t actually know. Confusing as ever for a young four-year- old (and two-year old) 
who only knows the word “stranger” as someone who they never go with and/or never talk to without Mommy.
So how do you explain what it means to give back to someone you aren’t related to, aren’t even friends with, or might not ever even meet!?
You tell them this, “You are a helper.”
I usually pick their favorite food. Ours that day in the car was simple. It was macaroni and cheese.
I said, “Everett, baby, there is probably a little boy out there, maybe your age, who really wants some mac ‘n cheese for dinner tonight, but he doesn’t have any. Let’s go get him some.”
It was beyond his years to explain to him how every 1 in 4 kids (in Collin County) goes to bed hungry every night. I didn’t share with him that that is roughly 300,000 children. I didn’t even tell him that most food pantries are empty in the spring and most definitely summer months because school is not in session and there isn’t the holiday spirit bustling around to inspire donations.
He didn’t need all that information. All he needed to know was that a little boy might want macaroni and cheese, and his mission was to find it, buy it, and stock it for this person who he didn’t know but loved.
Here is my call to action to you, Mom. Pick up your kids from school today, squeeze them tight, then title him (or her) a helper, and stock the food pantries of Collin County! Volunteering in Collin County is easy; let’s show our kids it’s important and valuable.
