I’m just back from Seattle where I gave the keynote at a
Gates Foundation conference cross sector collaboration in education.
There were attendees from across the country but with a heavy concentration
from three states: Colorado, Louisiana and Kentucky. They wanted to hear
about lessons from the success of the No Kid Hungry campaign that might be
applicable to their ambitions for growth and greater impact.
During the Q&A, a woman named stood up, and
said: “My name is Beverly Lawrason. I just have a comment that I feel
needs to be made.” Uh oh. Everyone kind of held their breath. “I’m the
Assistant Superintendent for our school district. Five years ago we desperately
needed help for the hungriest kids in our community. Almost everyone turned us
down. Those of you in this room can’t possibly imagine how bad it was.
Our school district is St Bernard Parish in Louisiana and we were devastated by
Hurricane Katrina. We didn’t know where to turn. Then one day a bus
pulled up and all of these people from Share Our Strength got off.
Thanks to them our kids got to eat and go back to
school.”
I shared that David Bradley who owns the Atlantic Monthly
and the National Journal was one of the people who got off that bus. Jonathan
Alter at Newsweek was another. So were Jim and Karen Ansara, numerous donors,
and dedicated members of our board. They were there on a Share Our Strength
Hinges of Hope trip to bear witness. And we left more of an impression
than I could have ever guessed.
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