Lights, Camera, Action!

On Monday, February 23, 2009, Marianne Snow and I were interviewed on a cable show called The Total Woman. I was not sure what to expect, except for the fact that I had met the host Cheryl Webb Scott before and found her to be friendly and easy to talk too. The Stoneham TV studio (which was converted from the Unitarian Church) was very nice and the all women crew could not of been more professional or complimentary. The purpose of the interview was to introduce ourselves and our organization to those in the 26 communities where this program will be aired. We were not given questions ahead of time and very little direction. It was basically like sitting around a table and telling the story of how Gathering Change, Inc., came to be, how we are different from other charities and why we believe that has helped us spread to 18 communities in less than four months. I did state some obvious facts about the economy and that the need for emergency food assistance was up 50% from last year at this time, but I felt like there was so much more to say. Thank goodness Marianne was right next to me and was able to add information that I missed.

Then something happened toward the end of the interview. The faces of the individuals waiting in the food pantry line came into my head, one by one, and I felt like I was not speaking for myself but rather for all of those who could not. I knew at that moment I was where I needed to be and I was able to say what needed to be said.

Thank you Cheryl!

Dorothy Goodwin