We all love our BOGO’s, right? Well, for any of you who don’t know what that means, when it comes to grocery shopping, it means Buy One, Get One for free. A great way to stock up on items that you may run out of, and who doesn’t like getting free stuff?

Well, here at LCC, we have a different type of BOGO in mind for you, one that is connected to the grocery store version but with a compassionate twist. At LCC, BOGO stands for Buy for Others what God Offers. What that means is that your grocery store BOGOs can be a great way to help out our Hope Lutheran food pantry. When you shop for an item that is on BOGO, why not give the extra item to the food pantry? Or both items? Even if there isn’t a BOGO going on, we can still make it part of our Christian commitment to, whenever possible, buy some items for the food pantry whenever we do our own shopping.

We are coming into the time of year when food insufficiency is spotlighted, with folks planning for their upcoming holiday meals. Turkey is great, but without the non-perishable trimmings, it’s just that – turkey. But cans of veggies and cranberry sauce, as well as boxes of stuffing mix, are what make the meal special.

And we’re not just talking about food for Thanksgiving. As many of you know, we always have a basket in the narthex in which people can drop off non-perishable food items for the food pantry. And this has been a really good ministry. But Barbara Fredericks, chair of our Caring Ministries, believes we can do more if we just have the right inspiration, so she shopped around and found two used shopping carts which she purchased and which will now live in the place where the basket used to. This will make bringing the items to the car of the person delivering to the food pantry so much easier.

Now, shopping carts hold a lot more than that basket could, so in obtaining the carts she is highlighting a growing need, as well as issuing a challenge for us all to dig deeper, BOGO-style, to help meet the needs of families in our community. We all know that prices have gone up a lot lately, and that family budgets are stretched thinner than ever. So the need to supply the food pantry has never been greater.

So look for the shopping carts. You won’t be able to miss them – they’re red! And then, when you’re at your favorite store, please be generous and buy what you can to fill the carts. Because really, as Barbara stated when she came up with the idea, what we buy for others is a direct result of what God offers to us. We’ve been abundantly blessed, but God always blesses in order to equip us to BE a blessing for others. So go BOGO!