Life changes, but people still get hungry

What does having a baby, a death in the family, a prolonged illness and moving into a new home have in common?If you guessed these are all events that merit friends and family bringing over a casserole, you are correct! (Also, we would have accepted life-changing events.)


Remember how coordinating meals for someone in need used to involve phone lists and lots of calls back and forth? (Or no coordination and three people showing up with chicken surprise on the same night.) Now it tends to involve a million emails littering the accounts of everyone involved. But it doesn't have to.



There are actually a couple of free sites out there, just for this purpose:

• Food Tidings - our church small group (we call them caregroups) used this to coordinate bringing meals to a family with a new baby.
  
• Care Calendar - I haven't used this one personally, but it has a wider focus than just food - including taking care of other practical needs the person/family may have or for coordinating long-term care schedules.
  

If you think the people in your group will be hesitant to log in to a site they're unfamiliar with, send out an Evite that explains the situation and states what nights meals are needed for. Invitees could "RSVP" with the day they'll bring a meal and what they're planning on bringing.

This isn't as streamlined of a system, but most people have used Evite, and it beats all those back-and-forth emails.