Thank you for all of your prayers, cards, calls and visits. It means so much to know that there are so many people who care for my parents. We feel doubly blessed - not only did my parents survive such an awful collision, they are also surrounded by a wonderful group of friends and family. God's grace is amazing!
Yesterday Dad's doctors discovered a blood clot in his leg. Usually, they would put him on blood thinners to remove the clot, but because of the accident he has lots of extra holes in his blood system so thinners are not an option at this time. Instead, they performed surgery last night around 11pm and installed a filter that will keep the clot from traveling in his lungs should it decide to move. Because of this, Dad will remain in Morristown Memorial Hospital at least until Sunday and most likely until Monday.
Mom continues to recuperate. She is still very sore, but able to walk. She'll see an orthopedic doctor next week to check on her hand which is healing with the help of a splint. We will be at the Hyatt in Morristown until dad is released.
Many of you have asked what you might be able to do to help during this time. Along with asking for your prayers, I have another request. Jen called me Wednesday to say that she returned home that afternoon to find a long line of people in front of the church waiting for our food pantry to open. While we've seen a steady increase in people needing food, this past week represented a huge spike in the number of people from our neighborhood who found themselves in need. We handed out 150 bags of groceries and fed 70 people at the soup kitchen. Sadly, the pantry had to close early because we ran out of food (this has never happened before).
This pantry is truly a loaves and fishes operation, and we have faith that God will provide. Nonetheless, I'm a little worried - the church has already depleted its budget for the pantry and it's only May. We need to raise $3000 to pay for an emergency purchase of groceries from our wholesaler so that we'll have food to give out for the coming month until we get our next shipment from the Food Bank. In lieu of flowers, my parents have asked that donations be made to the feeding ministry of the Greenpoint Reformed Church. You can donate online or send a check to the church: Greenpoint Reformed Church, 136 Milton St. Brooklyn, NY 11222
Thank you again for your prayers and support of my parents during this time. We are truly grateful for your caring and friendship.
A neighbor stopped in after church share with the congregation that our food pantry is featured in today's Nowy Dziennik, the national Polish newspaper. We were given a brief translation of the story, and a copy of the paper to hang in the parlor. This is at least the second, or perhaps the third, story about us in one of the Polish papers (there are at least three that come out in our neighborhood). It's definitely helping to spread the word that food is available for hungry folks. Hopefully, fewer people will go to bed hungry as a result.