I recently returned from a business trip to Florida.  We called on some prospective clients, inspected some recent work our landscaping team did in downtown Orlando, and refereed a few conversations about our 2008 budget.  Business is good there, and I'm proud of the momentum our Florida team has created.

But it wasn't Budd Group business which had me smiling and thinking on the way home a couple of weeks ago.  David George, our account manager in Central Florida, had taken several of us to the Greater Orlando Food Outreach Luncheon.  It was, by far, the most powerful business meal I have attended this year.

Scott George, founder and president of the Destiny Foundation, told how as a pastor he had to turn away a hungry family because his church had no more money to give that month.  The incident upset George so much that he left his pastorate and founded Destiny Foundation, an innovative food assistance program to financially assist the "working poor" in Central Florida.

In a brief summary from their website (www.battlepoverty.org), what is now called the Greater Orlando Food Outreach offers a long-term food subsidy program to families in the community.  Families have access to high-quality foods for a small contribution per item, and in 2006, staple foods such as eggs, bread, produce, and other nutritional items became available at no cost.  This "hand up," as opposed to a "handout," restores dignity to families by actively involving them in their road to self-sufficiency.

The Greater Orlando Food Outreach has become the largest faith-based, hunger-relief organization in Central Florida, serving over 1,700 familes each week and with more than 20 families joining the program each day.

In the midst of Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, I find it heart-warming to hear of and support programs such as this.  We have so much to be thankful for, from dedicated employees and a growing business to healthy families and food to put on the table.  May this truly be a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas for you and your loved ones.