Three times a week, I run into the Hollister Spirits Shop convenience store to grab a free Branson Daily Independent newspaper. This particular newspaper has a little national news and a little state news along with some classified ads, but it primarily focuses on what is going on in the Branson area—in the entertainment industry, but also in the community. What caught my eye one day was an article about how the Haygood family treated the clients of Loaves and Fishes to a free show.
Loaves and Fishes is a local program that provides a free evening meal to needy area residents at seven different Branson churches. The meals themselves are donated by a variety of groups—the churches, boy scouts, area restaurants, social clubs, etc. In 2009, Loaves and Fishes spanned 10 weeks and served over 8,000 meals. This year’s program is 12 weeks long lasting from January 4 through March 13. Feeding the hungry is certainly a worthy endeavor, but it occurred to Bransonite, Abby Lewis, that there were many people needing meals that had no transportation and, therefore, could not take advantage of these free meals. As a result of this revelation, Hope on the Road was born. The Hollister YMCA has donated the use of its bus to run a set route every night picking up people at designated spots, delivering them to the appropriate location and then returning them to their pick up point. My husband and I saw this full size school bus go by one evening, and it was totally packed with men, women, and children. In fact, so many people are needing transportation that there has been talk of possibly putting a second YMCA bus into operation.
Now back to the headline from the Branson Daily Independent that first caught my eye: Haygoods provide free show to ‘Loaves & Fishes’ recipients. In addition to the free performance, the 7 brothers and 1 sister handed out Haygood teddy bears to each of the 150 people who attended. While it is essential that people’s basic needs be met, it is also important that the human spirit be occasionally lifted. When we attend to a person’s morale, we better enable them to face the challenges of everyday life, so kudos to the Haygoods for giving this group of people an evening of fun!
This is just one example of the generosity of Branson’s entertainment industry. My husband and I have split our time between Branson and OKC for one year now, but I’ve already noticed many instances of performers donating their time, their talent, their theater space, or their money to better the community that has been so good to them. I am glad these entertainers realize that, while their paychecks may be provided by the tourists, Branson could not have become The Live Entertainment Capital of the World without the support and hard work of its local citizenry, and that, like it or not, some of these citizens sometimes need a helping hand.
Helping those who are less fortunate is the right thing for each and every one of us to do. Loaves and Fishes and Hope on the Road are two local programs run by and funded by volunteers. The 2010 season is almost over, but if you would like to assist them by helping at one of the churches, by driving a bus (if you have the proper certification), by being a greeter on the bus, or by donating money to help pay for the bus’s gas, you can contact Abby Lewis at healingnaturally@suddenlink.net.
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