It's crazy. I would not have thought it was possible just a few months ago...

But right now, Mercy Chefs is providing more meals than at any time in our history.

Last week, we served and distributed over 515,000 MEALS. Not too long ago, that was more than we served over several months.

I was sure things were going to slow down at least a little in July. The pace only increased. Then August started -- the peak of summer. Surely the crush of need would subside. Not a chance. Last week was our BUSIEST week in our history. 

I never imagined that, more than four months into the COVID crisis, Mercy Chefs would still be seeing such urgent needs in so many places.

But that is the crushing reality for far too many people in America right now, and it's why I'm writing to you today.

As we rush into August, Mercy Chefs is once again entering what is for us uncharted, unprecedented territory.

Consider all that Mercy Chefs is doing as August begins...

• We've already had a full deployment for Hurricane Hanna in Texas and then spent this past weekend preparing for a possible second deployment along the East Coast for Isaias that fortunately never materialized. This is just the start of what experts are saying could be the "second most active hurricane season on record."
  
  
• Meanwhile, our teams are continuing to provide hundreds of thousands of meals through our "Farmers to Families" outreaches in Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia and Puerto Rico.
  
  
• We are also continuing to provide groceries for folks on the hard-hit island of Maui in Hawaii and are preparing thousands of individual meals at our community kitchen at our headquarters in Virginia.

More trouble ahead for our nation's economy and especially hurting families and elderly shut-ins...

The new unemployment claims rose again this past week. Another 1.4 MILLION Americans filed FIRST-TIME unemployment claims.

Analysts were stunned.

+ + "The economy cannot carry on for long"

"The economy cannot carry on for long" with more than a million workers losing their jobs each and every week, said one economist. Bankruptcies are rising among retail businesses and the worry now is that "temporary job losses will become permanent" resulting in "an even slower pace of recovery."

Thanks to some dear friends of Mercy Chefs, I'm thrilled to share with you a breakthrough that will help us reach even more hurting families and elderly shut-ins this summer.

Some friends of this ministry pooled their resources to help create a $30,000 SUMMER OUTREACH MATCHING CHALLENGE to help Mercy Chefs meet the unprecedented need for meals we're seeing this summer (it's possible we could provide ONE MILLION MEALS this month alone!).

There is no way we could have projected this incredible demand. That means we urgently need help right now.

The latest first-time unemployment filings once again topped 1 MILLION -- 1.3 million to be precise. Analysts are concerned that the "challenges to economic recovery are multiplying." According to Bloomberg, the numbers indicate that "economic pain remains widespread."

We're still seeing the effects of the economic recession/depression all across the country. This month, we'll provide more than 500,000 meals and the demand is showing no signs of letting up.

+ + Drone footage: lines and lines of cars coming for help

I wanted you to see this drone footage that captures what a regular distribution day looks like at one of our larger Farmers to Families distribution sites in Claremore, Oklahoma. Please take a moment to watch. It is not uncommon for us to see lines and lines of cars waiting for help. Go here. 

Earlier this month we received a message through our Facebook page...

This is a bit shocking. Millions of unemployed Americans may still be waiting for their first unemployment check. See below and please help.  --Gary

I received this report from my team just before the July 4th holiday weekend:

I am amazed at what God is doing through the faithful partnership of friends like you. There seems to be no end in sight to the opportunities before us to help hurting people. As of last week, Mercy Chefs surpassed FOUR MILLION meals since our founding -- just a few months after we served our third million.

But this leaves me with an enormous challenge this month and for the rest of the summer...