Fishes & Loaves

Author: Tracy Crump

“I call this meeting to order!”

The roomful of children quieted down as the 4-H’ers, well-versed in the proper conduct of a business meeting, prepared to give their various committee reports. After the Pledge of Allegiance and 4-H Pledge were recited and the minutes and treasurer’s report were read, I asked to take the floor.

“I’m sure most of you know Nick and Chelsea Holland in the Friendship 4-H Club,” I began. “What you may not know is that their dad, Stephen, suffered a major heart attack a few days ago and had emergency surgery. What‘s worse, the doctors found another problem that will also require surgery.”

In as simple terms as possible, I explained the quadruple coronary bypass surgery Stephen Holland had undergone and the abdominal aortic aneurysm, a ballooning of the largest artery in the body, that had been discovered after his admission. As a former nurse, I knew an aneurysm left untreated is like a ticking time bomb. Eventually it will rupture and likely cost the patient his life.

“The doctors said Mr. Holland will have to recover from his first surgery before they can operate for the aneurysm,” I continued. “There’s one problem, though.” I hesitated. “The Hollands don’t have any insurance.” I explained that Mr. Holland had just taken a new job that would pay better and finally provide insurance for his family. “He was within three days of being eligible for his company’s insurance benefits when he had the heart attack.” The room became deathly still as the children and their moms absorbed this last bit of information. “I know his family would appreciate your prayers,” I finished.

As soon as I sat down, ten-year-old Aaron rose and said, “I would like to make a motion.”

All eyes were upon him. “I move that we do a fundraiser for the Hollands.”

How sweet, I thought, but I really don’t have time for a monumental undertaking such as that. Besides they need the money now! There wouldn’t be enough time to raise the kind of funds they need.

Springtime always seems so busy, and our 4-H calendar was already packed. I looked around the room and could tell the other mothers were thinking the same thing, but…I looked again…the children’s eyes were shining.

Finally we agreed to pray about it and decided that I would ask the Hollands for permission to conduct a benefit in their name if we elected to do it. The meeting was adjourned, and we went on with our scheduled program.

By the next meeting, it was apparent something was different. Everyone was excited, and the wheels had obviously been turning.

“Mr. Holland is improving from his first surgery, and his wife said they would appreciate anything we could do to help them,” I announced. “Because of their insurance status, the hospital requires a $500 deposit, and the surgeon insists on payment for the first surgery before he will consider a surgery date to repair the aneurysm. The cardiologist is asking for money, too, and they simply don‘t have it.”

“Then we’d better get moving. Why don’t we rent a booth at May Fair and sell baked goods?”

“How about a spaghetti supper?”

“Why not both?”

And these were the mothers talking!

Things happened so quickly I could hardly keep up with them. Four moms put their lives on hold as they raced to help a family in distress. The phone lines burned between our homes. We were told it would cost $100 to rent a craft fair booth, then given the booth at no charge because “it’s for a benefit.” A free account was arranged at the local bank and the town paper agreed to advertise the fundraisers at no cost.

One 4-H mom took it upon herself to cart her brood of five around to different businesses in our small town asking for item donations to raffle. Within two hours she had ten items, plus ice to chill the bottled water we planned to sell, and an offer from a printing company to print raffle and spaghetti supper tickets plus signs for our baked goods booth—free of charge. My head was spinning when she called to tell me about her bonanza. By that point, it was evident that God’s hand was on our short-term mission project.

Donations of baked goods poured in on the day of May Fair. One couple cooked homemade sausage and biscuits, arranged them in a pretty basket and walked around to the other booths selling them. An out-of-town vendor heard of the benefit and donated one of her crafts to be added to the raffle items. By the end of the day, we had made over $600 on baked goods and $1 raffle tickets!

The spaghetti supper was even more incredible. The county extension office provided us a place to hold the event. A teen 4-H’er contributed 200 home-cooked rolls that rivaled those for which a popular restaurant chain is famous. A friend, whose husband works for a food distributor, donated spaghetti sauce complete with meat, salad dressing, and even butter. People baked cakes and pies to be sold at the dinner. All that was left for us to purchase were paper products, spaghetti, and bagged salad—and we were set.

The dinner went off without a hitch. After we dished our last plate of spaghetti for the evening, we tallied up the number of tickets redeemed and estimated $400 in profits, maybe $500 total with the additional raffle tickets sold. However, when the money was counted, we found we had almost $1,100! We were flabbergasted.

Just like the fishes and loaves, God had multiplied our feeble efforts to provide for someone in need.

When all was said and done, the Stephen Holland Benefit accumulated over $2,100; not a grand sum, perhaps, and certainly not enough to pay for open heart surgery, but it was more than we ever dreamed of making. We sent a $500 deposit to the hospital and split the balance between the two doctors, wondering where the Hollands would get the rest of the money so Stephen could have his second surgery.

When the cardiac surgeon heard about the benefit, however, he told Mrs. Holland, "If you have that kind of backing from the community, I'm not worried about getting my fee."

Mr. Holland had a successful aneurysm surgery and recovered quickly to return home to his family. Just as importantly, a group of children and their moms learned a lesson about stepping out on faith and trusting God to turn their hasty mission project into a blessing of God-sized proportions.