Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Behind The Scenes: Our Story

My name is Lisa, and I'm one of the co-founders of Food Tidings. I wanted to share our story with you of how Food Tidings came to be.

In early 2006, we had so many friends having babies around the same time. We enjoyed bringing meals to them, and inviting friends and family to do the same. BUT, and this is a huge but, it was SO frustrating trying to do it through email! I felt like I was spending way too much time trying to send out an eamil, asking everyone to hit "reply all" when they sign up for a day, and inevitably someone would just reply to me. Then, I'd have to send an email to everyone on the list with the newest schedule, clogging up everyone's inbox.
One night before bed, I was sharing my "woes" with my husband, Zach, and I told him I wished there were a website out there that could help me do this... thus, the beginning of Food Tidings...He responded to me with an optimistic, "Well, let's make one!"

I am the personality type that tends to see all the set backs and pit falls of ideas, and my husband is just the opposite (we're made for each other!) I answered his idea of creating a website with something to the effect of, "I was just sharing with you how frustrated I am, not that I think we should make a website. That would be way too involved, and we don't even know how to!" His mind started going 100 miles per hour with ideas, and one of the first things he did was call up some of our close friends, Jeff and Leanne.

He shared the idea with them, and they were excited to get started on it. Jeff is a very talented web designer, and he helped our idea become reality. Once the site was up and running, I was so excited to see that I could create a meal schedule so easily! I was thankful for it, and really thought that if anything, it would be awesome for just us and our friends to be able to use it. Word spread, and continues to spread about it, and it's been so awesome to watch Food Tidings help SO many people. Not just in the US, but in other countries as well!
It's made it so simple to "do something." When you don't know what to do, and how to help someone you love who is going through either a transitional time in their life or a difficult time, bringing them a meal is a great way to show you care.

My husband Zach and I have 4 kids, and having meals brought to us after the births of each one was just amazing. I loved knowing that I didn't have to worry about making dinners for a while. And to be honest, making meals was one of the furthest things from my mind at that time! It was also a great way for us to get to see friends and family, and for them to see the newest additions to our family.
Likewise, it's really cool to get to bring a meal to someone. It's a way for me that I feel like I can be a help to them, and I know it's a great way to show I care.

We would love to see Food Tidings to be shared all throughout the world, and that it can be used as a tool to help millions of people get meals delivered to them. More than that though, for those millions to know that they're loved and thought of. We are of the mindset that giving and serving is such a huge and important aspect in this life. This is just one of the many ways to serve others and give of yourself.

So, that's our story of how Food Tidings came to be. We're looking forward to the future, and can't wait to see and hear about the wonderful ways you're helping others. Thanks for using Food Tidings!

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