Meet Me at the Corner

Fill the Truck - Nov. 15 Food Drive

Posted by Marjorie Pagel on Nov. 9, 2009 | 0 comments

"Marjorie, could you write about the food drive on your blog?"

This request came to me from Sandra Kestner, administrative assistant at Whitnall Park Lutheran Church.  I'm happy to do that, Sandy -- for you, for the people who will benefit from the food drive, and in honor of a very special person who died this summer, Marilyn Schoenleber.

Marilyn was one of the first persons I met when our family joined the church on Forest Home Avenue (located across from Clifford's at the entrance to Whitnall Park.)  She and her husband Norman were there every Sunday with their three sons: Richard, David and Charles.  She was a substitute teacher in Milwaukee schools and taught Sunday school for many years.  She also taught adult Bible study classes.

Most of her time, though, was spent on outreach concerns: making quilts for Lutheran World Relief, filling handmade school bags with supplies for children in Third World countries overseas, knitting prayer shawls, masterminding the annual "Mitten Tree" -- the list goes on.  Wherever there were people in need -- within the church or outside -- Marilyn was right there to do her part. As head of the Social Ministry team at the church, she also kept these concerns in front of the congregation.  I like to think of her as a "quiet activist."  She didn't seek personal recognition for her efforts and, consequently, many people at WPLC were unaware of all she did.

Those of us who knew Marilyn, though -- people like Sandy Kestner and myself -- also knew what a void there would be without Marilyn's active presence.  Since her death, Charles Schoenleber has been filling in for her -- packing up quilts and school bags for the Lutheran World Relief trucks; bringing produce from the family garden to share with parishioners who then contribute to local hunger relief; taking monthly contributions to Hope House, a center on the South side that ministers to homeless families. "It's therapy for me," he said.  (Charles also leads congregational support for the annual fall CROP Walk at Milwaukee's lakefront.) 

The Marilyn Schoenleber Food Drive is Sandy Kestner's idea.  A huge sign, "Fill the Truck," sits in her office, and from time to time a huge semi parks outside the church bearing that sign as a reminder of the Nov. 15 event.  Meanwhile, Sandy has been tucking reminders into the Sunday bulletins: last week it was a Post-It note; yesterday it was a lunch bag.  Many of the parishioners are keeping their eyes open for weekly bargains at area food stores and stocking up in their efforts to "Fill the Truck."

All the canned goods and non-perishables which are collected on Sunday, Nov. 15, will go to area food pantries.  Sandy is hopeful we will "Fill the Truck," which will be there that day.  It's a big truck, though.  We would very much appreciate help from others in the community. 

"We will be collecting all morning," Sandy said.

Thanks, Sandy, for taking this initiative.  It's a wonderful tribute to Marilyn.  She was way too modest to think of having a food drive named after her.  If she were here, though, she would be counting the boxes and cans and thinking of all the people who have a hard time feeding their families these days.  It's not much, she would think, but at least I can do my part.