Heart Felt Food
Why do I do what I do? There are lots of good reasons to grow your own food, to reconnect with the earth and God…. but why do I put it all online like I do. Here’s a really big reason. People connections.
I meet some great people online. There are so many people to learn from and some that my experience can help. Occasionally there is a special connection, a sincere message from a follower. Recently I got just that.
Jerry reached out to me with a question about how to locate local, naturally grown, organic foods. That’s kind of a normal thing for people to be looking for that these days… it’s all the rage. However the reason for his searching was very touching.
You see, Jerry has a niece with a son. Her son’s name is Jordan. Jordan is 11 years old and just went through a surgery for a heart transplant. The docs are telling them that Jordan will need to eat only naturally grown organic foods. As awesome as that goal is, it isn’t always easy to achieve.
This family lives in an apartment so they can’t likely grow all their own food. Time is an issue as well. Jordan’s mom is overwhelmed with doctor’s appointments. Many of these appointments are several hours away since the specialist don’t practice in their small town of Belton, Texas.
Jordan’s mother, Marsha, sent this message to me:
“My son, Jordan, had a heart transplant on May 27th 2014 at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Jordan’s doctors told us that he already has Coronary Artery Disease with his new heart and so we will need to give him a healthy diet to keep the CAD from progressing. My uncle Jerry suggested going to a local person for the meat and vegetables. I would love any suggestions or point me in the right direction of having a better way of eating for my son.”
Jordan has survived two major open heart surgeries and nine strokes. Two of those strokes took his speech and his mobility for a short time, while another stroke permanently damaged his right leg/foot muscle. He also had a brain bleed that held up his transplant eligibility for 4 weeks. The last few small strokes caused him to lose his peripheral eye sight in both eyes. After all of that, with this new heart Jordan’s family got the news that he has CAD.
Even with all of that going on, Jordan is just a normal 11 year old boy. He likes to build with his Lego blocks and watch Duck Dynasty. He has dreams of going hunting and fishing someday.
Heart Felt Food: How Can I Help?
There’s not much that one man can do really. I’m busy like everyone else. With a family, a job, a farm and load of other responsibilities what can I do? Well, one thing I do have is this blog and other social media content. Can I use this to help? Well, I’m going to try.
My goal here is to share Jordan’s story so that possibly someone in that same general area might hear the story and be able to help. Helping means to source local food to give this young man a higher quality of life. The family isn’t asking for money, they just want to know how to find good real food for their boy.
Heart Felt Food: How Can You Help?
Are you a farmer? Do you grow your own food in a garden? Are you anywhere near Belton, TX?
Do you have connections with anyone in that area that has a lifestyle of eating local organic food? Can they provide information?
How about this… Do you support your local farmers so they can stay in business? Could you shift your own shopping habits to support someone that grows real food?
Can you share this blog post with others? Perhaps if we all work together we can find the appropriate connections and sources to give Jordan a steady supply of groceries that will contribute to his long healthy life.
Everybody has something to offer. Please share this one your facebook, G+, Twitter feeds. You never know who will read it because you took a few minutes to pass it along.
Any food that we help source for Jordan will be Heart Felt Food!
Anyone with information can post in the comments of this post. If you have information that you’d like to share with me privately please use the Contact Page email form.
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I heard about this from a friend on Facebook.
What about a cooperative. Just a quick search and I found one nearby in Burnet, TX, called Hairston Creek Farm. They have a number of drop off points. Basically people buy a share in the farm.
http://www.localharvest.org/hairston-creek-farm-M3835/csa
I think there are a number of other co-ops like this in Austin as well, which is close by as well. If none of these work, you can at least call the guy at Hairston and ask for some ideas.
Once you find the source, if the family needs money to afford it, someone can run a campaign on GiveForward.com, or similar.