Day 28: The big announcement...drum roll please….

 

quote by Nelson Mandela

 

In the end there were emails from as far away as Holland and Great Britain that were sent to Bishop Soto in Sacramento, California.

Women who had read THIS POST and felt the same outrage that I did, decided to voice their opinions and do you know what?

We made a difference.

That’s right.

I received a gracious email from Jim, the director of this amazing program that’s been feeding the hungry for thirty years, and I’ve been informed that Father Martin has had a change of heart, and has given his permission to re-open the program beginning today.

That’s right, starting today no more hungry people in need of a hot meal will be turned away, it’s official. The crisis is over.

Alleluia!!!!!

And Jim—the kind-hearted and wise Director who met with Father and coordinated the  compromises couldn’t have been more grateful for the feedback that arose from the blog post, calling us “90% responsible” for this happy ending.

This is the part that’s really something.

It’s the fact that such a stunning number of readers took action on behalf of people that live thousands of miles away from them; people they’ll never even meet, and in an age when we’re all running around juggling so much, they still took the time to:

offer prayers,

share my post on their own FB pages,

tweet my post,

offer me strategies for dealing with an obstinate priest

and sent outraged emails to the Bishop

heck, one of my readers (thank you Barbara) even called the Bishop’s office and had a very assertive conversation with his secretary when he was unavailable.

“I hope the Bishop acts quickly because Tuesday’s just 30 hours away and there’s people to be fed.” she’d told her.

And while I don’t know if there were other phone calls, I do know that the Bishop got a barrage of feedback. And that the priest himself mentioned in a conversation, a blog post out there that was “hurtful” to him (I’m sorry Father but sometimes the truth hurts).

And as the supportive feedback kept coming in, I felt a surge of Mama’s pride rush through my veins and the kind of smile on my face that says, “Yes! We’re being heard.”

Which is the first step toward change.

The other night my parents—who will be wearing their blue aprons and welcoming guests back to the gym tonight --asked me to thank everyone on their behalf.

My cute Dad, who was so excited by the blog comments my Mom was reading to him, told me,

“Boy Leslie, you’ve got some nice ladies who read your blog. Now don’t forget. I want you to be sure to thank everyone for your Mom and me. OK?”

Ok Dad.

 

 

But he didn’t have to remind me because I’ve felt this way for a long time.

I’m just so grateful –and humbled—for the kind of readers who come to my blog.

Readers like YOU.

Because it turns out there’s whole a lot of strong women out there who aren’t afraid to stand up to bullies and say what they think, especially when it comes to protecting the vulnerable and weaker ones among us.

And I’m so happy that enough of us decided to use our collective power to change a bad decision.

 

 

And of course…

it always helps to have the good Lord on your side.

 

Happy 28th of October!

xo

Leslie

 

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