To Inspire:

Many of you know that Chet Fery, “the Bread Man,” was featured at our first Virtual Wealth Summit a month ago. A retired teacher and administrator living in upstate NY, Chet, with the help of his wife, has baked and given away over 100,000 loaves of bread in the last ten years (to school children, nursing home residents, health care workers, etc.) as an expression of kindness and to help build community. Chet’s talk was wonderful and we hope to have him back again.

Imagine my (Matt Palmer) pleasant surprise when I opened the November issue of Guideposts Magazine and read of another inspiring baker making a difference, Rose McGee of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rose has been baking her grandmother’s sweet potato pies her entire adult life. But it wasn’t until 2014 that she discovered a true purpose to her hobby. Let’s allow her to pick it up from here with excerpts from her article in Guideposts:

“In August 2014 I became troubled by the shooting of a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri. As I mulled over what I could do, I sensed God telling me to make my grandmother’s sweet potato pies and deliver them to Ferguson. It seemed crazy but the next day my son and I were driving 500 miles to Ferguson with 30 pies in my trunk. When we arrived we drove to the memorial that had been established for Michael and gave a pie to each person there – people still in anguish over this young man’s killing just a couple of weeks earlier. One by one tears flowed, hugs were given and connections of peace and goodwill were exchanged. It was a powerful moment as I realized how much one person can make a difference. On our drive back home I prayed, Lord how can I help more people in need – please lead me.

God led me to partner with the Minnesota Humanities Center and to bring pies to that year’s Martin Luther King Celebration activities. it was so inspiring to see people of all races and backgrounds come together to discuss how to make our community stronger. My pies were once again making a difference.

Each year since, volunteers join my family in making sweet potato pies for people in need all over the country. We’ve brought pies to Charleston, South Carolina after the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME Church; Kosher pies to the survivors of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, and this year pies for hundreds of healthcare workers on the front lines of the battle against Covid.

I’m grateful to come from a line of strong women who nourished their loved ones and found ways to uplift their communities one sweet potato pie at a time. And I’m proud to carry on that tradition.”

Friends, isn’t this a great story?! It seems like a little thing but done in love little things have a great impact. What can all of us do one person, one couple, one family at a time to make a difference during this time of challenge? Give it some thought and I bet God will give you an answer just like He did Rose.

Greatness, it lies within all of us – just waiting to be awakened.

Source: Guideposts, November 2020

This WealthNotes article was written by Matt Palmer, Co-founder and Chairman