Fall around here brings our
annual kuchen-baking adventure. It started about 17 years ago when a group at the church we attend that was planning to go on a mission trip decided that one big day of baking would go a long way toward raising the funds they needed.
It’s morphed over the years to a two-weekend event that raises money for community needs — people who have experienced health problems or disasters or other needs — and for our high school’s music program’s biennial trip to experience music in a bigger city. The church organizes volunteers for the first weekend, and high school music students and their parents man the second.
Part of the baking involves having someone arrive at 3 a.m. to help our baker extraordinaire, Melissa, make the dough. This year, I volunteered for one of those morning shifts, and my daughter volunteered to come with me. My daughter would measure out milk while I prepared yeast. Melissa did the more skilled work of making the dough. When dishes piled up, my daughter slipped to the dishwashing room and got a head start on the dishes for the day, while I prepared the ingredients for Melissa and covered the dough.
Having three people at the extra-early shift wasn’t really necessary, but it definitely made things a little easier. I kept thinking of the idiom, many hands make light work.
It’s a rare thing to have enough hands to go around in small towns — and for that matter, in most organizations in communities big or small. Efforts generally depend on a few dedicated volunteers to make things happen.
At the kuchen bake, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and Melissa and her mother, Jeanette, do the lion’s share of the work. They plan and organize and ask people to help on the baking and packaging days. The rest of us just show up and do what we’re told. Without those four, this event that raises thousands of dollars for the community likely would not be able to continue.
You find that in most organizations and even more so in small communities. Many hands do indeed make work light, but, still, some hands end up carrying a heavier load than others.
I want to take a moment to recognize everyone who gets things done when there just aren’t enough people to go around. Maybe you’re the person who steps up to lead. Maybe you aren’t in charge, but you stay late to make sure everything gets accomplished. Maybe you served on a committee or planned an event. Maybe you worked at the concession stand or helped do an art project with the kids in that one club, or picked up chairs and tables after the event was over. Maybe you asked for donations for a project or wrote a grant. Maybe you gathered donations for the food bank or shelter. Maybe you serve on your local ambulance or fire squad — vital services that very often don’t get enough recognition.
In our small, rural communities, there are almost never enough hands, and often the same hands are doing more jobs than seem possible. It’s not unusual to see people burnt out and tired of something that once was a passion. We need to make sure we show our appreciation for the ones who are doing the work by stepping up and doing our part when we can.
If you haven’t found your place to serve yet, I’d encourage you to start looking. There are always more jobs than people, and if you want good things to happen in your community, sometimes you’ve got to lend a hand.