At the end of 2011, my wife Jen and I decided we would give of either our time or our money at least once per week in 2012. We decided to donate at least two hours of our time or at least $25 each week. As we began the new year, many of our friends were interested in our new commitment, and so I decided to write about the organizations we work with and the experiences we have. The stories told here are meant to shed some light on volunteering - the kind of work that is out there, and the clientele that is served, and to provide information about who is making a difference out there, and what you can do to help. Please come back often and share our experiences as we move through our giving year.

Also, we are always looking for new organizations to work with, groups that are doing good work and could use either our hands or our money. If you know of a volunteer opportunity or worthy cause, please leave it in a comment. Thanks for your help!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Week 17 - Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph

This week we went back to work with Tony at the House of Mary and Joseph shelter.  We did not make dessert this time like we did a couple of weeks ago (Week 14) - we were too busy this week.  Sadly, this meant that for the first time in our work at the shelter, there was no dessert to give the patrons.  In spite of that, we did have another fulfilling night.  It was a little colder on the night we were there so the patrons were a little more appreciative than normal.  By contrast, the staff was a little on edge.  A week previous to the night we were working, one of the guys who lives at the shelter (in the program where they help with the food distribution as part of their work toward self reliance and getting off the street for good...) was assaulted by one of the guests.  This worker, a man named Angel, is a really great guy.  He is always incredibly friendly with us and has a great way with the shelter guests.  He knows just the right combination of camaraderie and discipline that helps the guests feel welcome but also makes it clear they need to follow the rules.  Unfortunately, last week, Angel had to stop a man from entering the shelter a few hours before he was supposed to.  They control access, particularly just before the men enter the shelter because the women are already in at that point, and the staff needs to make sure that no one causes them any problems.  In any case, the guest who had tried to enter waited around for hours until Angel went outside and then whacked him in the head a couple times with a club.  Angel was alright by the time wee saw him, but he clearly did not enjoy the experience.  The guest was banned from the shelter for a year.  As a result of all of this, the staff on the night we were working was still on alert to make sure the guy did not come around and cause trouble, or that any of his friends did.  As it turned out, the night was very peaceful.  Jen and I were the only volunteers in the kitchen, except for Tony, who seems to be there all the time.  During the distribution, there were not even the normal small scuffles that we see.

Since we have been to the shelter a few times now, I felt a little more comfortable taking a few pictures of the place.  I made sure that none of the guest were near by, since the last thing they need is to feel like a carnival attraction.  I was surprised when I first saw the dorm area, and how packed in the beds and the people are, and I wanted to show that to you as well.  In the picture below, you can see the beds, and if you look closely, can see how there are cots stacked up in the background.  The reason for this is that they use every inch of space in the dorm.  Once people are in bed, the cots are placed in the aisles so that no space is wasted.  When they are full, it is very hard to move through the room.  The lights are low most of the time, since that inspires a calm atmosphere that encourages quiet and sleep even before it is time to bed down.


It is worth noting that this is only about half of the room.  Behind me there are just as many beds.  There are also two smaller dorms for the women and the men who are in the "program" to get off the street.

I also shot a couple pics of the soup from this week.  The soup is made earlier in the day and kept as warm as possible in the large vats in the picture.  It is scooped out and put in Styrofoam cups so that it can be served.  In the picture with the cups, you can see we had about half of it set out.  We fill all those cups and then cover them with a sheet of plastic to keep the warm and to keep stuff out of them.  That is usually complete by about 7 pm, and the last one is served about 9 pm, so a lot of guys get lukewarm soup.  It is the best they can do, however, since they do not have a steam table or anything like that to keep things warm.  All the sandwiches are also made ahead of time, but I did not get a shot of them as they stay wrapped up until it is time to serve, and I did not want to be taking pics when the guests were around.



The soup this time was meat, corn and some other things.  That is kind of what the soup always is, but it changes color slightly from week to week.  One of the program volunteers said it was supposed to be chili, and was unhappy that they had gone in another direction.  When they guests asked me what kind fo soup it was, I told them, "Cream of Everything", which got some laughs.

Overall, it was another good night for us.  We always enjoy chatting with Tony, and with the guests as we work, and there are always interesting stories for us to hear.  Some of them are sad, but at that they are still interesting, and they widen our experience of living in the city and of understanding the challenges that face the homeless.

As a side note, Jen did double duty this week.  She went to the Lakeview Pantry for food distribution on a night when I had to work.  She tells me that it was full and busy, and that the volunteers were a crowd that she had not worked with before, so it was a good time and a nice chance to meet new people.  I am looking forward to getting back there in the coming weeks, as I miss the people and the experience.  I also owe them a couple of side projects that I promised to do, and have not yet had time to take care of.

Next week, I will tell you more about those projects, and another new donation.

For more information on the Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph, go to:

Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph

For more information on the Lakeview Pantry, go to:

Lakeview Pantry


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Week 16 - Lakeview Pantry and Franciscan Outreach Association

This week was the first time that Jen and I were not able to do service together.  I worked about 60 hours this week and could not join her, but she went back to our friends at the Lakeview Pantry twice this week.  We have not been there in a little while, and she was anxious to get back.  She tells me that both nights were very busy with both a full load of volunteers and capacity crowds of people needing food.  At this point, she is experienced enough to help the new volunteers figure out what to do and where to be, which was helpful this time around because Carrie, the woman who runs this pantry location, was away on a family vacation.  That meant that everything ran a little looser than usual, and Jen had to be more self-guided than usual.  In spite of that, Carrie's part time assistant did a great job on two busy nights and everyone got the help they needed.

Since I could not help out on those nights, we decided that we had not really met our weekly commitment.  We also decided to give a little money to the Franciscan Outreach Association, a group that, among other things, runs a shelter that we have worked with a few times (see past posts for more information).  Our donation was given as part of their Spring funding drive, which also includes a gala dinner on May 10th at the Chicago Yacht Club.  The funds they raise will be used to continue to provide temporary shelter and meals as well as vocational training and case management services to the homeless of Chicago.  To quote the gala invitation: "We serve each and every guest with the dignity and respect they deserve, from providing basic food and shelter to walking with them when they are ready to take steps to change their lives and transition out of homelessness."

Sadly, there is not much more to say about this week.  It was a regular old week for us, but it included our new normal of making volunteering a part of of our lives.  It has taken such a short while, and now it is habit to find somewhere to help each week.  Of course, Jen, as the major force behind scheduling our work, makes sure there is always a plan for the week.  She is always looking down the road for the next thing we can do, as well as looking for new opportunities and places to work.  I am the recording secretary and she is the scheduling secretary.  Together we are having a great time trying to give back to our community and put as much positive force out in the world we can.  We have found that the rewards we are reaping in the form of friendships, experiences and heart-felt thanks we are collecting far outstrip the effort required.  I try not to make any of this too heavy a sales pitch, but I encourage you to give it a try, whether in Chicago at some of the places listed here, or in your own community.  Almost all of us can afford to give some help in some form to someone else, and there are certainly people who need help everywhere.  Very few things I have done in my life have fed my soul as much as the work we have done this year.  If you want to feed your soul, look into the eyes of someone who really needs the help you are giving them.

Next week we will have more stories from the Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph.  Come back then to hear all about it!

If you are interested in information or in donating to the places we worked this week, follow the links below:

Lakeview Pantry

Franciscan Outreach Association


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Week 15 - Heifer International

This week Jen and I both worked lots of hours and so we could not fit in any volunteer work.  Instead, we decided to give to an organization we have known of and been impressed with for some time, Heifer International. 

Heifer International is a worldwide assistance organization that operates on a simple principle, that it is better to teach a man to fish than to just give him a fish.  Following this principle, Heifer does not simply give food to hungry people.  Instead, they give "living loans" of live animals.  They go into communities all over the world and teach them how to keep and breed the animals they are about to receive.  The "loan" part comes in because recipients are expected to breed the gift animals and then give the offspring to another person in their community.  Thus, instead of addressing a one time need for food, a community is given the resources to feed itself, and to grow and prosper through the additional benefits the livestock provide such as income from the sale of milk and eggs, manure for better farming yields, and the ability to pull plows and carry supplies to make farming more efficient.  Also, because of their policy of "Passing on the Gift" to other local people, and the community-based approach to training and infra-structure development, Heifer helps bind people together and set them on an upward-spiraling path that leaves everyone in the community more able to sustain themselves.  It is really a brilliant approach to actually reducing the number of hungry people in the world while at the same time promoting unity.

Heifer has been  at this for about 60 years, and they have found great success.  You can see a timeline HERE of their history and some major accomplishments.  They have also created a fairly ingenious way to entice donations - you can give in animals in someone's name.  Jen and I have done this in the past, and it is great fun.  We gave my brother a goat, and there was nothing like the series of surprised looks on his face when he found out first that we gave him a goat and second that his goat was being cared for by some nice people in some impoverished part of the world.  You can also just give directly, without doing it in someone's name.  The list of animals that can be given is wide ranging, including cows, water buffalo, sheep, goats, rabbits, chicks and more,  and for people interested in donating a large amount, you can give an "Ark" which includes some of everything.  It seems a little funny to give, say, a pair of rabbits, but if you think about how that pair will grow in a five year period, the impact of a very small donation goes an impossibly long way.  You can also give a share of a larger animal, which means you can really give a donation of almost any amount and make an impact.

This organization is doing real good, and they are making donated dollars go a very long way.  It is arguable that a dollar given here will have more impact to help people than any other organization we have mentioned so far, because that dollar will keep giving for years to come.

The Heifer website does a great job of explaining their mission and practices, and I have pulled just a couple things to highlight:

Click HERE to see a 60 second video by Alton Brown summing up how Heifer works.

Click HERE to see a summary of their current mission statement, which was revised in 2011 to reflect an attempt to widen their mandate and view their work through a lens of global interdependence.

For the Heifer International main page, click:

Heifer International

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Week 14 - Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph, second visit

This week we returned to the Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph to help distribute dinner to the people who be staying the night in this emergency shelter on the near west side of the city.  You can read more about how the House works and what their mission is in my post from Week 11.  We were excited to come back, having had such a profound and moving experience the first time.  We also added a twist - we decided to provide the dessert for the meal.  Jen had looked into this after our last visit, and found that in order to provide dessert, you have to come up with 250 servings of something. We talked it over, and decided that, in our small kitchen, brownies were the way to go. 

From that point on, all of the credit for accomplishing this goes to Jen.  I might have been a cheerleader on the side lines, but she was the driving force.  Being Jen, there would be no boxed brownie mix in this project.  She dug out her recipe, figured out how much she could get out of it and decided that 11 batches of brownies would do the trick.  We went to the store and got supplies - 10 lbs. of flour, 2 dozen eggs, etc. We also got a bunch of those disposable aluminum pans, since we did not have nearly enough at home.  When it came time to bake, she started by putting all the dry ingredients into eleven little ziploc bags, so that as she made batch after batch, she only had to measure eggs and liquids.  I tried to help out at this point, but my offer was rejected.  She had her groove on and did not want me to screw it up.  It took three days of baking around her work schedule, but on the night before we were set to go to the shelter, there were eleven pans of brownies cooled or cooling on our dining room table.  At this point, I was able to help a little by cutting up the brownies, but Jen packed them all, making sure each one was dutifully sprinkled with powdered sugar.  It was really inspiring to watch her crank out all of them, because I could tell that every step of the way, she was seeing the people who would get a little lift out of being given a brownie.  It reminded me of why I love her. 

At the end of all that, this is what went with us to the shelter:


When we went to the shelter for the first time, there were more volunteers than work, and we spent a lot of time just taking in the whole process.  This time, Jen and I and one other perennial volunteer, Tony, were the only ones there in the kitchen, so we a little more to do.  Tony had the soup all dished out, so we spent our time putting the brownies into bowls and setting them out to serve.  In the time while we waited for the patrons to start arriving, Tony told us about himself.  He is an employee for Mikasa, the large company that makes dinnerware, and has been for many years.  The company had left Chicago, except for one small warehouse, which he still oversees.  This warehouse is responsible for sending replacements of certain Mikasa patterns, but Tony does not need to work very much.  Because he has lots of time, he cooks almost every day at the shelter, and is now known to almost all the patrons of the shelter, and even the people in the neighborhood.  He told us a couple of disturbing stories of shelter patrons getting beaten up by the gangs in the neighborhood for fun, or to rob them.  He also said that the leader of the gang has told them to leave him alone because of the work he does for the shelter.  Apparently, the area around the shelter is following the trend seen throughout Chicago of experiencing more and more youth violence. (Chicago is averaging about 10 gun deaths per week this year, many of them teens or children.)  In spite of that, Tony is worried that Mikasa will decide to move him away from Chicago and that he will have to stop working at the shelter.  He is not worried about the violence; he is worried about having to stop helping these people.  We like Tony a lot.

The first round of serving, to the women, was pretty sedate.  As with last time, there was not a capacity crowd.  In fact, we only served about 15 women.  In a great act of humility, Jen handed out the sandwiches while leaving me to give out the brownies.  Tony handed out the soup.  Because of the small turnout, I was able to get a few smiles by giving out a couple extra brownies.  One woman, a regular, but also full of spirit and mischief, hung around to the very end, telling me she was going to get me to give her another one.  I played her game with her for a little while, telling her we needed to make sure everyone got one, and then, of course, gave in at the end.

The men came in the same as last time too, like a wave.  I was surprised at first, because many of them did not want a brownie.  I started being a little more liberal with them, although with so many patrons, it was almost impossible to tell who had already gotten one and who had not.  Once the word got around about how good they were, I got a lot more requests, and I was amused to hear all of the excuses:  "I dropped mine on the floor.", "I didn't see this the first time around..." and so on.  As it turned out, we had plenty of brownies, and some guys got a lot of them.  Some guys even took some into the dorm for a late night snack.  Of course, whenever I got a compliment on the brownies, I sent them back down the line to tell Jen.  She got a lot of compliments.

Overall, it was a great night.  We enjoyed having more to do, and we got a lot of warm smiles, friendly thank you's.  We were reminded again that while these people are struggling, they are no less deserving of honest human interaction than anyone else.  We left feeling happy and fulfilled, and looking forward to our next visit.

For more information on the shelter go to:

Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph