It was Tuesday night, July 3, and although I had been up since 5 a.m., I had one more errand to do before my day was complete. I arrived at the Reconstructionist Synagogue on Plandome Road in Manhasset around 6:20. The side door, leading to their kitchen, was open. In the kitchen, there were boxes of fruits and vegetables that had been delivered earlier that day from a local Long Island farm.

Thirty members of the synagogue formed a food co-op about a year ago. Each week, from May through October, they get deliveries of farm fresh produce, which is then divided among the participating families. Due to vacations and other circumstances, some of the fruits and vegetables are left over each week and that's when my job starts. I pick up the "leftovers" and drop them off (the next day) to the Interfaith Nutrition Network's largest soup kitchen in Hempstead, which feeds an average of 1500 men, women, and children every week.

The mix of fruits and vegetables varies, depending on what's in season, but it often includes tomatoes, corn, lettuce, spinach, squash, peaches, apples, strawberries, blueberries, and eggs. Naturally, all this fresh produce is a welcome addition to the soup kitchen menu.

Most of the time, when I make the food pick-up in Manhasset, I'm driving the Toyota Matrix I bought last December. I chose the Matrix because it's like a mini-station wagon, roomy and easy to load bags and boxes. But this Tuesday, I was driving Gail's Honda Accord. My car wasn't available because it was already stuffed to the roof with clothing that several of my customers had donated earlier that day.

As I drove Gail's Honda home, stuffed with all the food I had picked up, I thought about how some Americans have so much and some Americans have so little.

On the eve of July 4, our nation's birthday, it's nice to know that sharing is always in season.