I work in the food industry; our company imports pasta and other products from our headquarters in Italy, and distributes the products across all the United States. Between the front office and the back office we have fewer than 30 employees, so we also use food broker companies that help in the relationship and strategy with our customers.

Our office is located in the financial district in Manhattan, and we have a kitchen there.Every Thursday, together with some colleagues and sometimes other friends, we do charitable work with One City Mission: we cook at the office and we bring lunch and friendship to the homeless nearby. We visit around 15 people, mostly the same group every week.

A few years ago, there was a meeting at the office with the CEO of our largest food broker company on the East Coast. The meeting was on Thursday. At the end of the meeting he invited me and other colleagues out for pizza, but I said that I would prefer to spend my lunchtime visiting our friends in the street. He was amazed and he wanted to come.

The day after, he texted me:

“Thank you again for lunch yesterday, and especially for allowing me to join in your Thursday act of kindness. You are doing the Lord's work, and I truly admire you for this…If it's ok with you, I will try to schedule my future visits on Thursday so I may once again join you. If I may anonymously contribute $$ to help this effort, please let me know.”

Since then, one Thursday a month this colleague travels from New Hampshire to NYC, regardless of whether we have our business meeting that day. Normally he sends me a text message like this one: “Tomorrow is Thursday! Just checking to be sure the Mission walk is on… is there anything special that I can bring?”

A few days ago, at an important food show in NYC, I was approached by a CEO of another food broker company we work with — he had heard about our charitable work from Joe. “Can I come once with you guys?” he asked.

I was surprised. “But Abel, you are in California!”

“Yes, but please allow me to come at least once with you guys, because Joe spoke so highly about the Mission that I want to see it.”

It is so true what Fr. Giussani says in the charitable work booklet: the more we are open to the other, the more we discover ourselves.

“To be interested in others, to communicate to others, enable to fulfill the supreme and, indeed, the only task in life: to become ourselves, to complete ourselves.”

Paolo, Brooklyn, NY