It seems like time is going by in an otherworldly blur. Our routines have been upended, and our days look nothing like they did six months ago. With the rate of change we’re still facing, both in our personal lives and in our work at the pantry, it doesn’t seem like the ground will stop moving under us anytime soon. This is a hard year, this is hard stuff, and we are doing hard things.

People all over Loudoun are having a hard time in different ways. Parents are struggling with making the right choices to support their children’s educations. Seniors are struggling with the social isolation that is part and parcel of staying safe. Children are struggling with not seeing their friends for months upon months. Masks are a new fashion statement, but the rules keep changing about which ones work.

Layer economic insecurity over all of that, and you have an even harder struggle. Families with income loss have all the same hard issues to face as everyone else PLUS the stress and anxiety of having to choose which bills will be paid and which will wait for a later day of reckoning.

Every day at Loudoun Hunger, someone asks “Wait, what day is this?” Sometimes it’s a tired volunteer or staff person, and the question is asked with a kind of bemused exhaustion. Sometimes it’s a person in need calling for an appointment, and the question is asked because they are just so overwhelmed.

Whoever asks the question, everyone else understands why. There’s no judgement here for day confusion! It’s the burden of worry about what will happen today, and uncertainty about tomorrow.

What we can do is make sure, to the best of our ability, that there is enough food to help those who need it for as long as this situation lasts. And so we are doing our planning for the fall and winter months, sourcing shelf-stable food as much in advance as we can. We may not always know what day it is, but we are laser focused on helping those in need have access to adequate, nutritious food. That makes every day a day well spent.