By Ken Jarvis, Media Relations Specialist
Bulverde Ward Bishop, Adam Clark, was ready to pull out of the H.E.B. parking lot when someone approached him asking for a handout. That made him think of the many other times he had seen people on street corners and in parking lots asking for help. As he pondered that experience, he felt it was important to provide something that could immediately be put to use as well as something that a person would not likely receive in a brief encounter.
“I realized there was a need, people who could benefit from receiving some immediate aid,” Bishop Clark said. “But I also realized that there was an additional need. That need is for our ward members to serve, to provide a blessing to those with whom they come in contact.”
He knew very well that this could put some people in an uncomfortable situation. “Some of us don’t want to roll that window down and have a conversation with or extend our arm out and offer something to a complete stranger,” Bishop Clark continued. “And that’s OK. But I didn’t want the opportunity to go by. I wanted to make sure if that opportunity ever arose and if there was ever was a need we would be prepared.”
So the youth of the Bulverde Ward came together and helped create about 150 “Blessing Bags” that contained a pair of sox, a granola bar, a package of beef jerky, band aids and a bottle of water. Bishop Clark said the bags weren’t all picked up by members that first day but he plans to make them available after church services until they’re all gone.
“This may push us out of our comfort zone just a little bit, but I wanted to make sure that opportunity is there,” said Bishop Clark. “There is a need on both ends. Someone needs to feel that experience of serving and providing; and someone needs to receive that bag to help them get through the day. That’s really what this is all about.”