Well, here we are. Fifty-two weeks later, and we have met our commitment. One whole year of doing something to help others every week. On the one hand, it feels good to have come this far down a path of compassion and on the other hand, it just feels normal, like it is just what we do now. We could easily pledge another year of the same and it would not be hard. We have brought giving into our lives and have made it a part of ourselves, so choosing to do it is easy. That is one of the things we have learned along the way. I want to talk about those things, but first I need to quickly summarize our experiences this week.
Our planned volunteering this week was at the Lakeview Pantry, one of our new homes in the volunteering world. We worked again with our friend Maloo and, as always, there were some things to talk about. It was a snowy day, and the first distribution after Christmas, so the volume of patrons was really light. The lines moved fast and most people were in a pretty good mood. Maloo worked the meat counter again, since she enjoyed it so much last time. Jen learned how to do patron intake, which was new for her. This is where the Pantry keeps track of its customers and makes sure that everyone is following the rules about how often food can be received. Jen enjoyed this work a lot because she had to stay on her toes mentally and because she got to talk to every patron a little bit. I worked the bread counter, which I have not done since my first week at the Pantry. It was fun because I could be pretty generous owing to the light volume. When you work the bread counter, the line backs up right in front of you. This is because it takes a long time to give out produce, the next stop in the distribution line. Because the line was backed up, I got to chat with a lot of the patrons, and got to know a little about them. I met a woman with seven kids who had the oldest few with her. Her son, clearly the oldest and probably in high school, made a real impression on me. He was friendly and polite and obviously interested in helping out his family. I wanted to give the kid a hug, a medal and a college scholarship. Of course, I could do none of those things, but I did give him a few extra energy bars for after wrestling practice at school. I also met a woman who was a school teacher for 20 years and was kicked to the curb by Chicago Public Schools. She almost lost her house, but managed to hang on to it, although she needs help with food as a result. She was witty and erudite, and a pleasure to talk to - cheerful in spite of her troubles.
One other fellow was a little less pleasant. He was a young man, probably in his twenties, who came in with a beer. He was quiet and kind of fierce looking, but we take everyone. He became agitated a little while into the distribution, complaining about people bumping into him. He started arguing with one of the female patrons as they waited in line in front of my station. As I started to pay attention to what was happening, he started to argue with me. It was clear that his reactions were disproportionate to the situation, that he was not completely in control of himself. He did not do anything that could be construed as violent or even approaching violence, but he did start to get loud. As I was preparing to come around the counter to move him away from the other patrons, Carrie, the Pantry director and a male patron in line both stepped in. They calmly asked to talk to young man outside, and he went along without incident. Carrie is fantastic in these situations. She knows how to help the patrons be on their best behavior, and she makes it clear that she cares about them, even when she has to deny them service, as she had to in this case. When the male patron came back to the line, I thanked him and gave him some extra food as well. He and others in line with made many comments about how grateful they are that the Pantry exists and that we come to work there. They are not fond of anyone who disrespects that.
The rest of the night went quickly and quietly, and we cleaned up and got done a little early. It was, as it always is, a great night at the Pantry.
So now, let's take a look back and try to put things in perspective. Jen and I volunteered on 42 different occasions and we made 20 (-ish) small donations to various causes. We brought seven people along with us at various times throughout the year, some of them more than once. All of them had never worked at the place we took them. All told, we did about 230 hours of service and donated around $500. We volunteered primarily with seven organizations, and donated to about 18 more. As to the number of people we met and helped, that number is beyond count. It is certainly over 1000 people, and possibly over ten thousand.
As with this entire blogging endeavor, I do not bring up these numbers to trumpet our accomplishments. I bring them up because it helps to show the impact that a single person can make when he or she is dedicated to a simple mission. On average, our volunteer work was two or two and a half hours. The longest sessions were only four. Those few hours every week generated the kind of result listed above. Imagine what 8 hours per week could do. Even more importantly, think about the things you did this week. Could you have found four hours to dedicate to someone else?
Throughout the whole year, people have, upon hearing about our pledge, asked us the same questions over and over. It seems like this would be a good time to answer some of those. First, "How do you find the time for that?" That answer is easy. We make the time. We plan ahead and we make giving a priority. Jen and are are both very busy professionals. We work 50 to 70 hour work weeks, but we did not have trouble making this work. Jen, in her tenacity as our scheduling secretary, made sure that we were always looking ahead and that we always talked about what was coming up so that she could find the places to fit the volunteering in. I will concede that there are some fundamental things which allowed us to do this work. First, we are financially secure ourselves. We have what we need and so we could think of what others need. Also, we do not have children, young or otherwise. If we did, it would have been a lot harder to make this work. That said, we also have seen many, many people bringing their kids along to volunteer and teaching them about taking care of others. The bottom line is that we wanted to bring this work into our lives and we found a way to make that happen.
Another common question, "Well, your year is up... Are you going to stop now?" The short answer to this question is that we are going to stop worrying about doing something every week. The long answer is that this kind of work is now part of us, and we could not stop if we wanted to. We have made so many friends and developed such a habit of doing this work, that it would be hard to stop now. The entire point of this venture was to stop talking about volunteering and actually force ourselves to do it. We always wanted to but did not make the time for it. Now that there is room for it in our lives, we will keep volunteering, because it is fun, and fulfilling and part of who we are now. I am also going to leave this blog up, with this as the last post, to be used as a resource for those who are interested.
"Were you ever scared?" This one always takes me by surprise. I never gave even one thought to whether or not I would be safe at any of the places we worked. We certainly have worked in places where there are dangerous people, and we certainly have seen the face of mental illness. We have been to "bad" neighborhoods. We have heard stories of violence. But every place we worked has systems in place to deal with problems. Given the communities they serve, these organizations have to be ready for the unexpected, and they are. The other side of this is that the patrons, the clients, the beneficiaries of these services are vehemently protective of the organizations and the people who work there. They understand the benefits they are being given, and they are grateful to the point of putting themselves in harm's way before allowing a volunteer to come to harm. It is one of the more amazing things we learned in this process. The final point here is that while there are some scary people that use some of these services, they are few and far between - so much so that we barely ever saw them. Most of the patrons are friendly and grateful, even if they are a little strange, or eccentric, or even mentally ill. In short, no, we were never scared.
"What have you learned?" This is the big one, and almost impossible to answer, but let me try. We have learned that helping others is never one sided. When you help someone else, you help yourself as well. You also have a good chance that the person you helped will go on to help another. We have learned that we can afford the time and money to help others, to a much greater degree than we had previously believed. We have learned that one of the greatest gifts you can give a person is dignity - to recognize them as a worthy, complete human being. How many times have you said "No" to a person begging on the street without looking them in the eye? Try to say it while looking into their eyes. It is a lot harder. The best thing we did all year was to look at the patrons of these organizations as people, not beggars, not homeless. To borrow from India, we let the god in us see the god in them. When you see dignity dawning on the face of someone who has been ignored as something less than human all day, all week, all year, you surely do see the face of god. We learned what a wonderful habit that can be.
We also learned that anyone can be in need. The people who are hungry in this country are not all dumb. They are not all lazy. They are not all mentally ill. They are people in situations they did not plan on. Some have addictions. Some have mental illness. Some are unlucky. Some are trying to rebuild their lives. Some are just trying to get through the day. Some are just trying not to give up. However they came to their need, we learned that judgement is worthless. If these people could be in better control of their lives, they would be, and wasting time judging them will not help them. It does not eliminate their need and they do not have time or energy to even notice a condemnation. Condemn as you will, they still need help. Anyone can wind up homeless, and any time I have doubted that in the past year, I have met someone to prove my doubt foolish. Anyone can be homeless. Anyone can be struck down, surprised by a force that they did not see coming, and judging that person is the best way to get in line for a fall yourself.
I see looking back that this is, by far, the longest post I have written all year, so I think it is time to sum it up. I think the best way to do that is with some thanks and with a call to action. The thanks begin with the people we have enjoyed working with so much: Carrie and Erin and Elizabeth at Lakeview Pantry; Scott at Common Pantry; Tony at the House of Mary and Joseph and all the fantastic staff at Feed My Starving Children, The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Top Box Foods and Breaking Bread. These people work very long hours for almost no money. They do it because they believe in the work, and without them there would have been no work for us to do. I also need to thank my incredible wife again for putting in all the time, the phone calls, the web searches, etc in order to make sure we always had work scheduled. She was also constantly looking for new places we could go. She was as or more dedicated to this idea than I was, and in fact it was her idea in the first place. She is an amazing woman and I am lucky she chose me. The last thank you is for you, the reader. Thanks for sharing in our journey and for being at all interested in my take on all this. As of last count, we had about 1300 page views, which makes me pretty happy. So, thank you...
Lastly... a call to action. It is simple. Go out and do something. Anything. Anywhere. Use some of the talent you have been given and do something nice for someone else. You can look through these pages and find many good opportunities, but there are literally thousands more out there. Find a cause you believe in and do something to forward that cause. Go to GiveWell.org and find a charity that uses their money well. Go to www.thelifeyoucansave.com for more ideas. Talk to your friends. See what they do and go with them. Bring them with you. In the wake of the Newtown shootings, Anne Curry asked people to do 26 good deeds in honor of those killed that day. I say do 26 good deeds because it will start the habit. Do 26 and then 26 more. Make space in your life to consciously and actively do good for others, and you will find yourself happier, more peaceful and more full of life than you are now. Habit is everything. Be in the habit of helping others. Be in the habit of spreading your habit to others. Hatred and fear seem to be winning right now, and changing gun laws won't help, and putting a little more money into mental health facilities won't help. What will help is cultivating the habits of love and kindness. What will help is giving up our habits of judgement and separation. That is my challenge to you - let go of your fears and be a force for some kind of good, whatever good moves you. Go out and do something. Anything. Anywhere.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Week 51 - Lakeview Pantry and Breaking Bread
Well, folks, we are coming down to it. It is nearly the end of the year and nearly the end of our giving year as well. Next week I will talk about the journey and some of the things we have noticed and learned along the way. I will also answer the question I have been asked most in recent weeks... " What are you going to do when the year is over?" For now, I want to talk about this week. To celebrate both Christmas and the fact that we have come this far, we had a double header this week. We brought a good friend to work with us at Lakeview Pantry and we went back to Breaking Bread, a rather unusual soup kitchen that we have only worked at once before.
Lakeview Pantry was much the same as it has been, but this time we had a lot more fun because we brought along our good friend Melissa, also known as Maloo. Maloo works at Chicago Shakespeare with me, and mentioned a few weeks ago that she was feeling a strong need to do something for others - she was a bit sick at heart and wanted to help others as a way to fight that feeling. I have felt the same way over the past year, and service has always made me feel better. It turns out that the Pantry was just the thing.
When Jen and I go to the Pantry, we almost always do the same jobs. She gives out the meat and diary stuff and I do canned goods. This time, we had plenty of volunteers, so Jen and Maloo both worked the meat counter. It was a really busy night, with all the seats packed an more people coming in later on. Maloo and Jen worked furiously to keep up, but Maloo loved every minute. Her father is a butcher and she grew up helping out in his shop, so she was a natural. She also had a great talent for talking to the patrons and helping them find the meat they really wanted. Often, we can't tale the time for this level of service, but because they were both working the counter, it worked really well.
Often, when there is a lot of people and therefore a long wait, the patrons get really grumpy, but not this time. Some of the most complimentary patrons were those who had waited the longest. I think this is because they were getting food for Christmas, but also because we had a really good group of volunteers who kept things very positive, cheerful and upbeat all night. This was one of the best nights we have had at the pantry, and that is saying something as Lakeview Pantry is one of our favorite places to work. I also think Maloo got hooked. She signed up to work with us next week too!
Our other service this week was at Breaking Bread, a soup kitchen that is part of the LaSalle Street Church's outreach ministry. If you recall from Week 21, this is a full service kitchen where patrons are encouraged to come in early and socialize. There is also live music, a room with free clothing, a medical referral service, rapid AIDS testing and spiritual counseling. The group tries to serves the whole person, mind, body and spirit. It is a great concept, and it is a shame they only operate one per week.
They are also always booked up. We had booked this session months ago and decided to keep it even though we had gone to Lakeview Pantry the night before. As you may recall, we had kind of a dubious experience the first time and we wanted to give it another try. Before, we were a little put off by the seeming lack of organization but we had a great time serving patrons.
Our experience this time was basically the same as last time. We got to the kitchen separately, with me arriving later than Jen. I got there and had to stand around for about 15 minutes before anyone talked to me or gave me a job to do. Finally one of the volunteers grabbed me and gave me some work, but there was no one really minding the kitchen. Many of the volunteers were regulars and it was their familiarity with the process that actually got anything to happen. Eventually, the chef and manager came into the kitchen and got things moving a little more, but we wound up serving about half an hour late.
It seems petty to complain about not being given work, but it is very disconcerting to have a lot of activity happening around you and not being able to contribute. I felt like I was in the way a lot - much more than I felt useful. Eventually, we got the jobs we would have for the rest of the night. Jen was running the dishwasher and I was cleaning pots and pans in great big sinks. While we usually like jobs that include more contact with patrons, we were happy to have jobs where we knew what to do. This, again, was almost the same experience we had the last time we worked, but with different jobs.
From that point on, the night moved forward with more intention. We knew what to do, and the meal got served and enjoyed and cleaned up. The patrons seemed to really enjoy and appreciate it, and all of the workers were cheerful and had a good time. Without question, this group does a lot of good and serve very real needs for their patrons. They are just not very good at managing and welcoming their workers, which made the whole experience a little less pleasant. Whereas we will certainly keep going back to Lakeview Pantry, we are probably done with this group, at least for a while. Nonetheless, if you are inspired by their work, I still recommend that you give them a try - just be prepared to find your own way a bit.
You can get information on Lakeview Pantry HERE.
You can get information on Breaking Bread HERE.
Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Lakeview Pantry was much the same as it has been, but this time we had a lot more fun because we brought along our good friend Melissa, also known as Maloo. Maloo works at Chicago Shakespeare with me, and mentioned a few weeks ago that she was feeling a strong need to do something for others - she was a bit sick at heart and wanted to help others as a way to fight that feeling. I have felt the same way over the past year, and service has always made me feel better. It turns out that the Pantry was just the thing.
When Jen and I go to the Pantry, we almost always do the same jobs. She gives out the meat and diary stuff and I do canned goods. This time, we had plenty of volunteers, so Jen and Maloo both worked the meat counter. It was a really busy night, with all the seats packed an more people coming in later on. Maloo and Jen worked furiously to keep up, but Maloo loved every minute. Her father is a butcher and she grew up helping out in his shop, so she was a natural. She also had a great talent for talking to the patrons and helping them find the meat they really wanted. Often, we can't tale the time for this level of service, but because they were both working the counter, it worked really well.
Often, when there is a lot of people and therefore a long wait, the patrons get really grumpy, but not this time. Some of the most complimentary patrons were those who had waited the longest. I think this is because they were getting food for Christmas, but also because we had a really good group of volunteers who kept things very positive, cheerful and upbeat all night. This was one of the best nights we have had at the pantry, and that is saying something as Lakeview Pantry is one of our favorite places to work. I also think Maloo got hooked. She signed up to work with us next week too!
Our other service this week was at Breaking Bread, a soup kitchen that is part of the LaSalle Street Church's outreach ministry. If you recall from Week 21, this is a full service kitchen where patrons are encouraged to come in early and socialize. There is also live music, a room with free clothing, a medical referral service, rapid AIDS testing and spiritual counseling. The group tries to serves the whole person, mind, body and spirit. It is a great concept, and it is a shame they only operate one per week.
They are also always booked up. We had booked this session months ago and decided to keep it even though we had gone to Lakeview Pantry the night before. As you may recall, we had kind of a dubious experience the first time and we wanted to give it another try. Before, we were a little put off by the seeming lack of organization but we had a great time serving patrons.
Our experience this time was basically the same as last time. We got to the kitchen separately, with me arriving later than Jen. I got there and had to stand around for about 15 minutes before anyone talked to me or gave me a job to do. Finally one of the volunteers grabbed me and gave me some work, but there was no one really minding the kitchen. Many of the volunteers were regulars and it was their familiarity with the process that actually got anything to happen. Eventually, the chef and manager came into the kitchen and got things moving a little more, but we wound up serving about half an hour late.
It seems petty to complain about not being given work, but it is very disconcerting to have a lot of activity happening around you and not being able to contribute. I felt like I was in the way a lot - much more than I felt useful. Eventually, we got the jobs we would have for the rest of the night. Jen was running the dishwasher and I was cleaning pots and pans in great big sinks. While we usually like jobs that include more contact with patrons, we were happy to have jobs where we knew what to do. This, again, was almost the same experience we had the last time we worked, but with different jobs.
From that point on, the night moved forward with more intention. We knew what to do, and the meal got served and enjoyed and cleaned up. The patrons seemed to really enjoy and appreciate it, and all of the workers were cheerful and had a good time. Without question, this group does a lot of good and serve very real needs for their patrons. They are just not very good at managing and welcoming their workers, which made the whole experience a little less pleasant. Whereas we will certainly keep going back to Lakeview Pantry, we are probably done with this group, at least for a while. Nonetheless, if you are inspired by their work, I still recommend that you give them a try - just be prepared to find your own way a bit.
You can get information on Lakeview Pantry HERE.
You can get information on Breaking Bread HERE.
Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Week 50 - Feed My Starving Children
This week we went back to Feed My Starving Children to pack food bags for malnourished children. This will be our last visit of the year with them, but as with so many of the places we have been, we plan to continue to work there even after our year is up. As is our recent custom, we brought along our friend Jen, who had never been to FMSC before.
This time around, it looked like we might be able to pack a lot because there was a couple of large groups with adults and teenagers, and very few smaller children. It is great when the small children come out and get their first experience volunteering, but they don't pack as quickly as a motivated 17 year old. Anyway, it looked like a good group, but things started a little sluggish. It turned out that most of the people were there for the first time, and so things started a little slow. The workers at FMSC could see by the make-up of the group that we had the potential to break the record for how many boxes could be packed in one session, and they started pushing everyone right away to try to go as fast as possible. Fortunately, almost every table got the hang of things pretty quickly.
We grabbed a table right away and jumped into our normal positions - me on sealing bags, Jen (my wife) on holding bags under the funnel and weighing them, and Jen (our friend) on scooping ingredients. We were joined by a father and teenage daughter who were new to packing, and so we had to give them a few pointers, but things got rolling soon enough. It turned out to be one of our most productive sessions ever, with our table (consisting of two packing stations) packing 18 boxes of food in just over a hour. Since there are 216 meals in a box, it means we packed 3,888 meals.
At the end of the session, it seemed like there was a chance we had broken the record. A lot of the table were saying they had reached numbers like ours. The record is 101-1/2 boxes in a 1-1/2 session (only about 1 hour of packing after instructions and clean up). There are six tables, and if each of them had hit 18 boxes, we would have smashed the record. After we cleaned up and prayed over the food, we headed back to the seating area to find out how we did. The final tally looked like this:
We didn't hit the record, but we pack a lot of food. It is worth pointing out that the "Kids Fed" number refers to the number of children who can eat for a whole year based on the packing we did in one hour of hard work. Also worth noting is the cost. Even at $0.22 per meal, it adds up. FMSC always shows this number because they remind the workers that other people had to give the money to buy the meals before we ever packed them.
The shipment we packed was part of about 217,000 meals that were leaving for Nicaragua this week. That is one of the nice things about working at FMSC. They pack six days per week and send at least one large shipment every week to a place they identify for you. We have packed for shipments to places all over Africa and Central America, and to Haiti, where poverty and starvation always seems to have a death grip.
The evening turned out to be a lot of fun, and very productive. Jen enjoyed her first time and we enjoyed being back. We are getting to be old hands at packing, and it is fun to help others get the hang of it. When faced with all of the bad things that happen in our world, the seeming forward progress of evil and devastation, this kind of work feels like a tangible stand in opposition to those forces. When it seems like we are powerless to prevent the senseless deaths of others, this is a way to gain a measure of power, to take real, meaningful, direct action to fight the darkness. All the time, but especially at Christmas time, this feels like helping to bring light into the world where it is desperately needed.
For more information about Feed My Starving Children, including opportunities to pack food or to donate, go to Feed My Starving Children.
This time around, it looked like we might be able to pack a lot because there was a couple of large groups with adults and teenagers, and very few smaller children. It is great when the small children come out and get their first experience volunteering, but they don't pack as quickly as a motivated 17 year old. Anyway, it looked like a good group, but things started a little sluggish. It turned out that most of the people were there for the first time, and so things started a little slow. The workers at FMSC could see by the make-up of the group that we had the potential to break the record for how many boxes could be packed in one session, and they started pushing everyone right away to try to go as fast as possible. Fortunately, almost every table got the hang of things pretty quickly.
We grabbed a table right away and jumped into our normal positions - me on sealing bags, Jen (my wife) on holding bags under the funnel and weighing them, and Jen (our friend) on scooping ingredients. We were joined by a father and teenage daughter who were new to packing, and so we had to give them a few pointers, but things got rolling soon enough. It turned out to be one of our most productive sessions ever, with our table (consisting of two packing stations) packing 18 boxes of food in just over a hour. Since there are 216 meals in a box, it means we packed 3,888 meals.
At the end of the session, it seemed like there was a chance we had broken the record. A lot of the table were saying they had reached numbers like ours. The record is 101-1/2 boxes in a 1-1/2 session (only about 1 hour of packing after instructions and clean up). There are six tables, and if each of them had hit 18 boxes, we would have smashed the record. After we cleaned up and prayed over the food, we headed back to the seating area to find out how we did. The final tally looked like this:
We didn't hit the record, but we pack a lot of food. It is worth pointing out that the "Kids Fed" number refers to the number of children who can eat for a whole year based on the packing we did in one hour of hard work. Also worth noting is the cost. Even at $0.22 per meal, it adds up. FMSC always shows this number because they remind the workers that other people had to give the money to buy the meals before we ever packed them.
The shipment we packed was part of about 217,000 meals that were leaving for Nicaragua this week. That is one of the nice things about working at FMSC. They pack six days per week and send at least one large shipment every week to a place they identify for you. We have packed for shipments to places all over Africa and Central America, and to Haiti, where poverty and starvation always seems to have a death grip.
The evening turned out to be a lot of fun, and very productive. Jen enjoyed her first time and we enjoyed being back. We are getting to be old hands at packing, and it is fun to help others get the hang of it. When faced with all of the bad things that happen in our world, the seeming forward progress of evil and devastation, this kind of work feels like a tangible stand in opposition to those forces. When it seems like we are powerless to prevent the senseless deaths of others, this is a way to gain a measure of power, to take real, meaningful, direct action to fight the darkness. All the time, but especially at Christmas time, this feels like helping to bring light into the world where it is desperately needed.
For more information about Feed My Starving Children, including opportunities to pack food or to donate, go to Feed My Starving Children.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Week 49 - St. Vincent's Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen
This week, Jen and I attended a wonderful Christmas concert at the St. Vincent de Paul church on the campus of DePaul University. The concert, called Christmas at DePaul is a way for the church, the university and the surrounding community to come together and celebrate the Christmas season. It is a magnificent concert with musicians from the university and a chorale made up of singers from local and university groups. The church is accented by beautiful lighting inside and out. It is a warm, wonderful way to prepare for Christmas, and the only admission fee is a request to donate to the food pantry and soup kitchen run by St. Vincent's parish. Jen and I were not able to book any volunteer work this week, and so we happily donated to this very active pantry.
It is called the Mother Seton Food Pantry and Sandwich window, and it began in 1980 in a small room in the Parish center of the church. The group points out that working poor families, parents of young children and the elderly make up a large portion of their clients, and they offer the following statistics:
- 39% of the households that receive food include at least one employed adult
- about 33% of the people served are children under the age of 18
- 10% of clients are aged 65 and older
- 25% of households have at least one family member in poor health
- 10% of clients own the place where they live
- 9% of clients are homeless
The food pantry serves about 230 families every month, which translates into about 700 individuals per month or around 8,250 people per year. Their service this year will expand to include DePaul University students who qualify for food assistance.
The soup kitchen is open six days per week, and serves about 125 meals per day, which adds up to 32,500 meals served in the last year. The sandwich window serves about 30,000 sandwiches, 1,000 special holiday meals and 45,000 cups of coffee in a year.
St. Vincent's is in an area that does not seem like it should need a food pantry or soup kitchen. The neighborhood is full of streets lined with large single family homes, and the university campus provides an ordered, scholarly backdrop. There is money here. The university has it. The homeowners have it. Even many of the students have it. When you walk in the area, it feels like a place where everyone has enough, but that is sadly untrue. This neighborhood is a perfect example of how pervasive the problem of food insecurity is. 40% of the population of Chicago either does not have enough to eat, or is in imminent danger of not having enough. One in five people in our city go hungry at least some of the time, and they do not all live in the violent slums on the south side. They are everywhere, including wherever you are. I am always amazed when I see the lines at the Seton soup kitchen in the mornings on my way to the gym (across the street), but the reality is that people need help everywhere.
So it was a great way to kick off Christmas... Hear a beautiful concert and help those in need. I highly recommend either if you are looking to get into the Christmas spirit.
I usually post a web link to the organization website here, but the website for St. Vincent's does not seem to be working. If you want information about the pantry, check back later as I will post a link if it becomes available, or call St.Vincent's Parish at (773) 325-8610.
It is called the Mother Seton Food Pantry and Sandwich window, and it began in 1980 in a small room in the Parish center of the church. The group points out that working poor families, parents of young children and the elderly make up a large portion of their clients, and they offer the following statistics:
- 39% of the households that receive food include at least one employed adult
- about 33% of the people served are children under the age of 18
- 10% of clients are aged 65 and older
- 25% of households have at least one family member in poor health
- 10% of clients own the place where they live
- 9% of clients are homeless
The food pantry serves about 230 families every month, which translates into about 700 individuals per month or around 8,250 people per year. Their service this year will expand to include DePaul University students who qualify for food assistance.
The soup kitchen is open six days per week, and serves about 125 meals per day, which adds up to 32,500 meals served in the last year. The sandwich window serves about 30,000 sandwiches, 1,000 special holiday meals and 45,000 cups of coffee in a year.
St. Vincent's is in an area that does not seem like it should need a food pantry or soup kitchen. The neighborhood is full of streets lined with large single family homes, and the university campus provides an ordered, scholarly backdrop. There is money here. The university has it. The homeowners have it. Even many of the students have it. When you walk in the area, it feels like a place where everyone has enough, but that is sadly untrue. This neighborhood is a perfect example of how pervasive the problem of food insecurity is. 40% of the population of Chicago either does not have enough to eat, or is in imminent danger of not having enough. One in five people in our city go hungry at least some of the time, and they do not all live in the violent slums on the south side. They are everywhere, including wherever you are. I am always amazed when I see the lines at the Seton soup kitchen in the mornings on my way to the gym (across the street), but the reality is that people need help everywhere.
So it was a great way to kick off Christmas... Hear a beautiful concert and help those in need. I highly recommend either if you are looking to get into the Christmas spirit.
I usually post a web link to the organization website here, but the website for St. Vincent's does not seem to be working. If you want information about the pantry, check back later as I will post a link if it becomes available, or call St.Vincent's Parish at (773) 325-8610.
Week 48 - The Salvation Army
This week we needed to donate as we could not fit in any volunteering, and we noticed that it was also the week when Salvation Army bell ringers were appearing all over town. We usually make a donation to the Salvation Army around this time of year, and we decided to do so again.
I have given to this organization for years, both in monetary donations and in donations of clothing and other good to their thrift stores, but I always just kind of assumed they were doing good work. I never really looked into it until now. I guess it is not surprising to find that this giant organization has a hand in almost every area of giving aid and succor to those who need it.
The Salvation Army was the brain child of a minister named William Booth in London starting around 1852. Booth saw that the conventional methods of church and pulpit were failing the desperately poor population of London's East End and instead decided to take his message to the streets. He set up a tent in a Quaker grave yard and began preaching sermons which were instantly successful. Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, drunkards and paupers were converted to Christianity through Booth's message of hope and salvation. Unfortunately, these converts, because of their activities before conversion, were not readily accepted in the traditional church. Booth's response to this problem was to give his followers a different spiritual direction - to go out and save other like themselves. Soon, Booth's followers were also singing and preaching in the streets.
Booth's group grew very quickly. In 1867, he had only ten full time workers, but by 1874, that number had grown to over 1000 volunteers and 42 evangelists all serving under the name "The Christian Mission". Booth assumed the title of General Superintendent, but his followers just called him "General". They then took on the colloquial name "Hallelujah Army" as they spread though London and then into other cities. In 1878, booth was reading a printer's proof of an annual report when he noticed the phrase, "The Christian Mission is a volunteer army". He crossed out the word volunteer and wrote "Salvation Army" instead. The name stuck and the Booth's followers were known as soldiers of Christ or "Salvationists" from them on.
From 1878 to 1885, the Salvation Army grew by leaps and bounds, expanding throughout the U.K. to Ireland and Scotland, as well as into America, beginning in Philadelphia and quickly expanding to New York City. Sometimes these soldiers of Christ faced real battles as organized gangs mocked and attacked them, but they prevailed, eventually spreading to virtually every corner of the globe. Booth died in 1912 after seeing his venture succeed beyond his dreams and 17 more Generals have followed since, including the current one, Shaw Clifton, who runs the organization from the international headquarters in London.
Here in Chicago, the Salvation Army works diligently to help those in need. They sponsor food programs for young and old and those in between. They run housing programs. They run programs to assist convicts transition back to normal life after serving time. They offer a myriad of substance abuse recovery programs and are a loud, local voice in opposition to sex trafficking, including direct outreach to its victims. They offer many, many programs to foster community development including sessions to help develop character and leadership among young people. They run day camps and provide fellowship and worship opportunities. They run food pantries and offer other forms of emergency financial assistance. They run early childhood education programs and provide assistance and counseling to expectant mothers. In short, they address nearly every aspect of need, in body, mind, and spirit, that people in Chicago may have.
One particularly moving service that the Salvation Army provides is a prayer request service. The idea is that you tell them what you are praying for, and then many more people pray for the same thing. While I am undecided for myself about the power and effectiveness of prayer, it is still incredibly moving to visit the prayer website and see what people are asking for and to witness the power of their need. The webpage has a feed of texts that have been received and Facebook prayer requests, and it is a humbling experience to sit in the quiet of my secure, warm, well-stocked home on a Sunday morning and read entry after entry from people who are suffering, worried, insecure and fearful. It reminds me to be thankful for the many blessings I have been given and to keep at least a portion of my mind thinking about those who have not been given as much. It reminds me to be humble and not to take my safety and security for granted. If you are interested, you can see the prayer request page HERE.
Given the wide range of work that they do here in Chicago and around the world, Jen and I were proud to give them a donation, and we will probably continue to do so in the future. One note, however... I did look up the Chicago chapter of the Salvation Army on the Better Business Bureau website (they rate charities as well as businesses...), and found that the BBB could not report on them because the Salvation Army did not respond to requests for information. I usually like to check to see how well the charities we give to manage their money, and it is slightly unsettling that the SA would not provide that kind of information. Regardless, they still do a lot of good work, and we happy to support them.
To check out more about the Salvation Army, click HERE.
I have given to this organization for years, both in monetary donations and in donations of clothing and other good to their thrift stores, but I always just kind of assumed they were doing good work. I never really looked into it until now. I guess it is not surprising to find that this giant organization has a hand in almost every area of giving aid and succor to those who need it.
The Salvation Army was the brain child of a minister named William Booth in London starting around 1852. Booth saw that the conventional methods of church and pulpit were failing the desperately poor population of London's East End and instead decided to take his message to the streets. He set up a tent in a Quaker grave yard and began preaching sermons which were instantly successful. Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, drunkards and paupers were converted to Christianity through Booth's message of hope and salvation. Unfortunately, these converts, because of their activities before conversion, were not readily accepted in the traditional church. Booth's response to this problem was to give his followers a different spiritual direction - to go out and save other like themselves. Soon, Booth's followers were also singing and preaching in the streets.
Booth's group grew very quickly. In 1867, he had only ten full time workers, but by 1874, that number had grown to over 1000 volunteers and 42 evangelists all serving under the name "The Christian Mission". Booth assumed the title of General Superintendent, but his followers just called him "General". They then took on the colloquial name "Hallelujah Army" as they spread though London and then into other cities. In 1878, booth was reading a printer's proof of an annual report when he noticed the phrase, "The Christian Mission is a volunteer army". He crossed out the word volunteer and wrote "Salvation Army" instead. The name stuck and the Booth's followers were known as soldiers of Christ or "Salvationists" from them on.
From 1878 to 1885, the Salvation Army grew by leaps and bounds, expanding throughout the U.K. to Ireland and Scotland, as well as into America, beginning in Philadelphia and quickly expanding to New York City. Sometimes these soldiers of Christ faced real battles as organized gangs mocked and attacked them, but they prevailed, eventually spreading to virtually every corner of the globe. Booth died in 1912 after seeing his venture succeed beyond his dreams and 17 more Generals have followed since, including the current one, Shaw Clifton, who runs the organization from the international headquarters in London.
Here in Chicago, the Salvation Army works diligently to help those in need. They sponsor food programs for young and old and those in between. They run housing programs. They run programs to assist convicts transition back to normal life after serving time. They offer a myriad of substance abuse recovery programs and are a loud, local voice in opposition to sex trafficking, including direct outreach to its victims. They offer many, many programs to foster community development including sessions to help develop character and leadership among young people. They run day camps and provide fellowship and worship opportunities. They run food pantries and offer other forms of emergency financial assistance. They run early childhood education programs and provide assistance and counseling to expectant mothers. In short, they address nearly every aspect of need, in body, mind, and spirit, that people in Chicago may have.
One particularly moving service that the Salvation Army provides is a prayer request service. The idea is that you tell them what you are praying for, and then many more people pray for the same thing. While I am undecided for myself about the power and effectiveness of prayer, it is still incredibly moving to visit the prayer website and see what people are asking for and to witness the power of their need. The webpage has a feed of texts that have been received and Facebook prayer requests, and it is a humbling experience to sit in the quiet of my secure, warm, well-stocked home on a Sunday morning and read entry after entry from people who are suffering, worried, insecure and fearful. It reminds me to be thankful for the many blessings I have been given and to keep at least a portion of my mind thinking about those who have not been given as much. It reminds me to be humble and not to take my safety and security for granted. If you are interested, you can see the prayer request page HERE.
Given the wide range of work that they do here in Chicago and around the world, Jen and I were proud to give them a donation, and we will probably continue to do so in the future. One note, however... I did look up the Chicago chapter of the Salvation Army on the Better Business Bureau website (they rate charities as well as businesses...), and found that the BBB could not report on them because the Salvation Army did not respond to requests for information. I usually like to check to see how well the charities we give to manage their money, and it is slightly unsettling that the SA would not provide that kind of information. Regardless, they still do a lot of good work, and we happy to support them.
To check out more about the Salvation Army, click HERE.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Week 47 - Common Pantry
This week we returned to out friends at Common Pantry, where we have not been for a little while. As it turns out, we had volunteered to work on the busiest day of their year, the day before Thanksgiving.
As you would expect, donations were up in a serious way this week, and most of it had a Thanksgiving bent. Local Jewel stores donated 68 full turkeys to the pantry, and they also got a few more from private donors. In addition, they had lost of cans and boxes of all the necessary trimmings - stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It made for a very busy and very successful day of distribution.
Scott, the pantry's manager, told me that they had basically been distributing all day, which is not that unusual since they do an afternoon and evening session every Wednesday. What was unusual was the number of families they served, which was something the neighborhood of 110 families. Every family of three or more got a turkey and a holiday bag with stuffing, vegetables, and potatoes and gravy. They also got a holiday pie, either pumpkin or apple, along with the rest of the regular rations for the week. The smaller families still got the holiday stuff - they just got a different meat instead. It worked out just right so that the number of turkeys and the number of families who needed them was the same.
Jen got to the pantry first and got assigned to work on distribution, so she got to be a part of the frenzy. She was in charge of the meat and pies and gravy, so much so that she wound up with one tub of gravy dumped all over her. She is a trooper though, and kept right on going. I got there a little later due to some terrible traffic and, after fighting my way through the distribution area, spent the night cleaning up the back room of the pantry. This room is also the Sunday school classroom for the adjacent church while also serving as a makeshift warehouse area for the pantry. The room was full of food at the beginning of the day, but was down to a manageable level by the time I got there. We moved food around, re-packed it from boxes in to crates, (more stack-able) and generally cleaned the whole place. We spent a good deal of time going through huge boxes of donated plastic bags, trying to find the ones that were still usable and discarding the ones that were ripped, torn, or nasty. It was a very zen task - all hands and no mind, but my coworkers and I had fun making conversation while we worked. At the end of the night, it looked like a classroom again, which was very satisfying.
As always, we had a great night of work and really enjoyed the staff and our coworkers throughout the evening.
Before I sign off for the week, I do want to offer, as so many do at this time of year, a quick thought about thankfulness. This (almost a) year of work has shown us a few new things to be thankful for. The first and most obvious is the opportunity to help. We are blessed to have our own needs provided for well enough to be able to spare some time and resources to help others. This one is evident to us every day, and Jen and I are pretty constantly thankful for our good fortune. The aspect that is slightly less obvious is that we are also thankful for the people who need the help. It seems a little gruesome to be thankful for that, because what we really wish is that no one needed help - that everyone had enough. But we are thankful nonetheless. The people in need have gotten Jen and I out of our house and into the world, connecting with hundred of wonderful people we would not have known otherwise. Those people in need show us something wonderful in ourselves and in humanity at large. They give us the opportunity to help build the world up with our own hands, and get to see the good our hands have helped to make. As many have said before, they help us, in the most real way I know of, to see the face of God. I am not an overly religious man, and questions the nature and existence of god almost every day, but when I am least doubting is when I am looking at the grateful face of someone to whom I have just given their dinner. This work we do feeds our souls as much as it feeds their bodies, and so I am thankful for who need help. Their need helps us touch the divine.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
For more information about Common Pantry, click HERE.
As you would expect, donations were up in a serious way this week, and most of it had a Thanksgiving bent. Local Jewel stores donated 68 full turkeys to the pantry, and they also got a few more from private donors. In addition, they had lost of cans and boxes of all the necessary trimmings - stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It made for a very busy and very successful day of distribution.
Scott, the pantry's manager, told me that they had basically been distributing all day, which is not that unusual since they do an afternoon and evening session every Wednesday. What was unusual was the number of families they served, which was something the neighborhood of 110 families. Every family of three or more got a turkey and a holiday bag with stuffing, vegetables, and potatoes and gravy. They also got a holiday pie, either pumpkin or apple, along with the rest of the regular rations for the week. The smaller families still got the holiday stuff - they just got a different meat instead. It worked out just right so that the number of turkeys and the number of families who needed them was the same.
Jen got to the pantry first and got assigned to work on distribution, so she got to be a part of the frenzy. She was in charge of the meat and pies and gravy, so much so that she wound up with one tub of gravy dumped all over her. She is a trooper though, and kept right on going. I got there a little later due to some terrible traffic and, after fighting my way through the distribution area, spent the night cleaning up the back room of the pantry. This room is also the Sunday school classroom for the adjacent church while also serving as a makeshift warehouse area for the pantry. The room was full of food at the beginning of the day, but was down to a manageable level by the time I got there. We moved food around, re-packed it from boxes in to crates, (more stack-able) and generally cleaned the whole place. We spent a good deal of time going through huge boxes of donated plastic bags, trying to find the ones that were still usable and discarding the ones that were ripped, torn, or nasty. It was a very zen task - all hands and no mind, but my coworkers and I had fun making conversation while we worked. At the end of the night, it looked like a classroom again, which was very satisfying.
As always, we had a great night of work and really enjoyed the staff and our coworkers throughout the evening.
Before I sign off for the week, I do want to offer, as so many do at this time of year, a quick thought about thankfulness. This (almost a) year of work has shown us a few new things to be thankful for. The first and most obvious is the opportunity to help. We are blessed to have our own needs provided for well enough to be able to spare some time and resources to help others. This one is evident to us every day, and Jen and I are pretty constantly thankful for our good fortune. The aspect that is slightly less obvious is that we are also thankful for the people who need the help. It seems a little gruesome to be thankful for that, because what we really wish is that no one needed help - that everyone had enough. But we are thankful nonetheless. The people in need have gotten Jen and I out of our house and into the world, connecting with hundred of wonderful people we would not have known otherwise. Those people in need show us something wonderful in ourselves and in humanity at large. They give us the opportunity to help build the world up with our own hands, and get to see the good our hands have helped to make. As many have said before, they help us, in the most real way I know of, to see the face of God. I am not an overly religious man, and questions the nature and existence of god almost every day, but when I am least doubting is when I am looking at the grateful face of someone to whom I have just given their dinner. This work we do feeds our souls as much as it feeds their bodies, and so I am thankful for who need help. Their need helps us touch the divine.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
For more information about Common Pantry, click HERE.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Week 46 - Toys for Tots
Well, it is the week before Thanksgiving, and it seems to be the unofficial start of the giving season. People are starting to keep track of the things they are thankful for, and to consider ways to make sure others have something to be thankful for as well. It is the time of year when Jen and I would usually say to ourselves, "Boy, it has been a while since we donated or volunteered... We should get some food for a food drive or something..." This year is different, of course, thanks to Our Giving Year, but we still find ourselves even more interested in giving as this time of year comes around. We have a number of friends who want to volunteer with us, so we are booking multiple sessions each weeks in December, and we are realizing that we have some groups that we wanted to donate to, but may run out of weeks in which to do it, assuming we limit ourselves to a single year. (We are not, of course going to do that... Giving is now a habit for us and we will keep it up in the years to come.) The places we volunteer are also filling up with "seasonal" volunteers. I bring all this up only to point out a couple things:
First, now IS the time to give. It is cold, and the people who needed help before need even more now. And it is the time when we celebrate, in whatever way we choose, the solidarity of humankind. Now is the time of year when we are reminded that there is far more that unites us than divides us. This season shows us the struggle, the difficultly in loving our neighbors, and it shows us the rewards for doing so. We are given the bitter cold to remind us of loneliness and that solidarity is hard to achieve, and we are given the warmth of giving and receiving from our loved ones to remind us that it is worth striving for. The people Jen and I have met throughout our work this year are the ones who sometimes only feel the cold, the loneliness, the outside-ness. If you have any inkling to help these people, do it now so that they can get a measure of what the holidays are meant to bring - inclusion and warmth, both physical and spiritual.
The second thing is that we are winding down. There are only six weeks left in the year and so only six weeks left in Our Giving Year. As I mentioned above, we still have a lot to do and and plenty to report about after. We have stepped up to the season, and we are planning to visit pretty much all of our favorite places to work, as well as giving to a couple more organizations. It is going to be a fun, busy holiday season and a fitting end to this year long experiment. Jen and I are different people that when we started, and so in addition to describing our work in these last few weeks, I am also going to reflect a little on what we have learned and what it means for us in the future. I will try to keep these ramblings short, but it seems appropriate to examine where this journey has taken us.
Which bring us along to this week... This was a busy week at the theater, so it was a donation week for us. We struggled a little to find an organization to whom to donate because we are now bombarded by requests, as I have mentioned before. We know that we don't have a lot of weeks left, so we started talking about the holiday season and about organizations that have some meaning for us already. Jen brought up Toys for Tots. I have given to Toys for Tots before when I saw a toy drive going on, but I did not have a very personal connection to the group. Jen, it turns out, does.
When she was young, Jen has very clear and very fond memories of taking toys to a pickup site in on the south side of Chicago. Toys for Tots is run by the US Marine Corps, but is strongly supported by many of the motorcycle clubs here in Chicago. The clubs have Toys for Tots parades and toy drives, where they drive their bikes around, in full regalia, to collect toys and raise awareness. Jen has fond and funny memories of large, heavily bearded guys on Harleys driving around with teddy bears and dolls. For her, these memories are a part of the holiday season - a part of what Christmas means for her, and so she wanted to make sure we gave to them as part of this year.
So we did just that. They have a great website which allows you to donate to the organization as a national whole, or to Toys for Tots groups specific to your area. They are a 97%- 3% charity, which means that only 3% of the money received goes to administration and fund raising. The rest goes directly into buying and distributing toys. They collect new and unwrapped toys from October into December and then hand them out in time for Christmas. Their stated goals are:
"to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future."
While we like to help people get enough to eat, at this time of year, we also like to help kids have a happier Christmas, so Toys for Tots was a natural choice.
For more information on Toys for Tots, click HERE.
First, now IS the time to give. It is cold, and the people who needed help before need even more now. And it is the time when we celebrate, in whatever way we choose, the solidarity of humankind. Now is the time of year when we are reminded that there is far more that unites us than divides us. This season shows us the struggle, the difficultly in loving our neighbors, and it shows us the rewards for doing so. We are given the bitter cold to remind us of loneliness and that solidarity is hard to achieve, and we are given the warmth of giving and receiving from our loved ones to remind us that it is worth striving for. The people Jen and I have met throughout our work this year are the ones who sometimes only feel the cold, the loneliness, the outside-ness. If you have any inkling to help these people, do it now so that they can get a measure of what the holidays are meant to bring - inclusion and warmth, both physical and spiritual.
The second thing is that we are winding down. There are only six weeks left in the year and so only six weeks left in Our Giving Year. As I mentioned above, we still have a lot to do and and plenty to report about after. We have stepped up to the season, and we are planning to visit pretty much all of our favorite places to work, as well as giving to a couple more organizations. It is going to be a fun, busy holiday season and a fitting end to this year long experiment. Jen and I are different people that when we started, and so in addition to describing our work in these last few weeks, I am also going to reflect a little on what we have learned and what it means for us in the future. I will try to keep these ramblings short, but it seems appropriate to examine where this journey has taken us.
Which bring us along to this week... This was a busy week at the theater, so it was a donation week for us. We struggled a little to find an organization to whom to donate because we are now bombarded by requests, as I have mentioned before. We know that we don't have a lot of weeks left, so we started talking about the holiday season and about organizations that have some meaning for us already. Jen brought up Toys for Tots. I have given to Toys for Tots before when I saw a toy drive going on, but I did not have a very personal connection to the group. Jen, it turns out, does.
When she was young, Jen has very clear and very fond memories of taking toys to a pickup site in on the south side of Chicago. Toys for Tots is run by the US Marine Corps, but is strongly supported by many of the motorcycle clubs here in Chicago. The clubs have Toys for Tots parades and toy drives, where they drive their bikes around, in full regalia, to collect toys and raise awareness. Jen has fond and funny memories of large, heavily bearded guys on Harleys driving around with teddy bears and dolls. For her, these memories are a part of the holiday season - a part of what Christmas means for her, and so she wanted to make sure we gave to them as part of this year.
So we did just that. They have a great website which allows you to donate to the organization as a national whole, or to Toys for Tots groups specific to your area. They are a 97%- 3% charity, which means that only 3% of the money received goes to administration and fund raising. The rest goes directly into buying and distributing toys. They collect new and unwrapped toys from October into December and then hand them out in time for Christmas. Their stated goals are:
"to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future."
While we like to help people get enough to eat, at this time of year, we also like to help kids have a happier Christmas, so Toys for Tots was a natural choice.
For more information on Toys for Tots, click HERE.
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