As you may know, on Monday I received an unexpected phone call from a dear friend of Mercy Chefs who wanted to extend a $50,000 Matching Challenge just for Giving Tuesday. This friend agreed to match, dollar-for-dollar, every gift that came in on Giving Tuesday up to the $50,000 amount.

I didn't know what to expect when we sent word out to our friends and supporters. But what happened yesterday was beyond my expectations!

I'm thrilled to announce that faithful friends of Mercy Chefs stepped forward and fully matched the $50,000 Giving Tuesday challenge!

+ + Friends like you are part of God's provision!

My staff was in amazement throughout the day as friends from across the country stepped forward to help us meet this challenge. In a very real and practical way, friends like you are part of God's provision for Mercy Chefs!

Time and time again, we see provision come in unexpected ways. Just this past week while our team was in Louisiana serving over 8,500 Thanksgiving meals, the lines kept getting longer and our chefs began to wonder if we would have enough food. This from Chef Lisa...

“There was a moment as we did the math and everything but ham seemed super tight. The match against the numbers just wasn’t matching up. Chef Dustin and I decided we were going to pray and ask God to do His thing. We divided the work between chefs and kitchens and begin to cook. As per His Way, we began to see things filling the skillet more. Then as Volunteer Chef David began cutting turkey, there seemed to be no shrinkage from cooking [Turkey products always tend to shrink while cooking, making the portions less than the original poundage]. And of course, as we fully expected, we began to be asked for more meals. [More to serve and more to deliver]. Well, there was enough food for everyone who came and the only thing we had left over was a little bit of cranberry sauce. It’s always so humbling to participate in the miracles!!"

Mercy Chefs will serve thousands more holiday meals before Christmas -- and each meal is made possible by friends like you. Plus, we're getting ready to launch a very special effort to help Mercy Chefs feed more people in 2022 in light of the dramatically shifting economic conditions in our country. Your Giving Tuesday gift is helping us prepare for this important shift.

Thank you so much, and may God bless you richly!

Gary LeBlanc

P.S. If you intended to support Mercy Chefs on Giving Tuesday but didn't have an opportunity, we still need your help! We have thousands more holiday meals to serve between now and Christmas. Just $60 will help provide three families of four a full holiday meal. Go here to make your gift: