Easter was a special and blessed time for Heartfelt. When John Morton asked Heartfelt to put on an Easter morning brunch for the participants of his Easter Beach Service; we jumped at the opportunity to be a part of that energy. But when he asked, “Could we possibly have pancakes??”, we weren’t quite so confident. Pancakes? On the beach? Yet anyone who knows our Johnny knows that it’s pretty impossible to say no to someone who can “leap tall mountains in a blinding flash”, so we gulped and said “Sure thing.”
After wading, begging, pleading, and praying through mountains of Santa Monica City bureaucracy, and many “no’s” and “impossibles” regarding cooking pancakes on the beach; a shaft of Resurrection grace broke through and a week before the event, Heartfelt was given a special permit to cook pancakes on the beach Easter Sunday!
All the while, more miracles were simultaneously piling up in other areas of the project. Because this was a Heartfelt event, we wanted to add another element to the morning by including the homeless in the project. We decided to have enough hot food to feed anyone that came by who was hungry; and an additional 400 special sack lunches to be given out to the homeless. However, our budget was very limited for such an expansive vision.
Along with an incredible volunteer team led by Karl Fledderman, Chris Frankel, Annette Wylie and myself, magnificent donors surfaced to speed this project along and insure that we meet our vision. We would like to acknowledge them here:
Starbucks Coffee Store donated hundreds of cups of hot coffee and tea
R. Yellin Company donated 600 pieces of fruit for the homeless lunches
Entemann’s Bakery donated 600 coffee cakes for the homeless lunches
Best Foods Baking Company donated 1,000 rolls for the homeless lunches
Pavilion’s Market donated a case of granola bars for the homeless lunches
Garvey Nut & Candy donated pounds of jelly beans
Nutribiotic Company donated 1,000 Prozone bars for the homeless lunches
Shepherd Packaging donated 1,000 white paper lunch bags
PRANA donated 500 plastic knives, forks, spoons
International House of Pancakes donated pancake batter for 800 at cost
Bagel Factory gave us 10 dozen bagels at cost
LA Breads gave us fresh baked breads at cost
Pinecrest Northridge School students decorated 400 paper bags for homeless lunches
LA Provision gave us food at cost
And several generous financial donors who wanted to remain anonymous, but who will be very blessed for their support in making this possible.
Although rain threatened to dampen our event, John Morton held the focus for sunshine; and on a cloudy, dark Saturday afternoon we committed to going forward with our Pancake Brunch on the beach the next day. Sure enough, Easter was a cloudless, balmy, beautiful day on the beach…those shiny days that rarely appear.
I’m told the pancakes were the best ever, and the special Easter breads, Easter eggs, fresh fruit, hot coffee and joyful camaraderie filled everyone’s hearts as well as stomachs. The best part of the day was the hundreds of homeless and hungry people that ate alongside us, and/or received sack lunches with delicious Easter fare to take with them. Sharing our extraordinary abundance on the day of the Lord’s Rising, with those of His children that had so little, was our greatest Easter blessing and joy.
May these blessings fill your heart today,
Patti