This week at the soup kitchen there were an average number of people, about 30. It was just a normal day. The people were respectful, so that was good! There was one man Jan was nervous about who was there to eat. She was nervous because he had some kind of mental illness and was very loud. She didn't want him to scare or disturb the other people eating. We were all very careful around him because we didn’t want to do anything that would possibly upset him. Although everyone in the soup kitchen was nervous that day, everything turned out fine, and it was a good day.

I walked into the cafeteria to my usual student Mitchell kneeling on his seat waving at me, I had a feeling that it was going to be a good session. Since Mitchell was sick last week and reading days I hadn’t seen him in a while so it was nice to see him again. He asked me what I thought of his shirt and I gave him a compliment to start the session off right. We took a fieldtrip to his classroom to get his math workbook. Mitchell’s classroom was close to the library, where we have tutoring, but I am still baffled by how these students navigate in this huge school. We sat down and Mitchell did his homework. Mitchell does his homework very quickly once he sits down, however the main problem is checking over his answers. He gets very frustrated and angry when he gets things wrong. When I showed him what was wrong with the problem he got upset and just put his head down. He was clearly tired after a long day of school I don’t blame him I would be too. I decided that we weren’t going to get anywhere with the correcting the math homework so we moved on to the three word and counting worksheets he also had to complete. He used his lack of sleep as an excuse for his counting worksheet, an area he always struggles with. Mitchell responds very well with deals I made him a deal that I would tell him the pattern if he would then fill in the numbers, or I would give him the first number, anything to get him rolling. I helped him with his antonym worksheet and then we got to play for the last ten minutes. Even with his hissy fits I love working with Mitchell, he is a great child and I am excited to see him continues to succeed in his academics.

Today we collected 62.71 lbs. of food. Servo donated meatballs, a pasta dish, pancakes, and crab cakes! Sheetz donated bananas, yogurt parfaits, cookies, and sandwiches. We also had a donation of Root Beer Syrup... I'm not sure what they'll do with that...

As a little aside: the fridge was already quite full before we added what we collected! There was a ton! of bread in the fridge, fresh peppers, salad, and other little collections of food here and there. It's exciting to see such a full fridge!

Overall, collecting was pretty much the same today as most Wednesdays... I was glad not to have to be out in the rain! It was cold and wet this morning, and became beautiful later in the day! This makes for a much nicer walk over to the kitchen!

Until next Wednesday....

The food pantry was very busy today. There was a local food drive that brought in hundreds of boxes of food. Instead of filing, we unpacked all of the boxes and loaded them into the food pantry. While I was doing this, I met some new volunteers. I asked them where they were from and it turns out they were from the prison. Although this scared me a little, they turned out to be very nice. We all worked together to unpack the food and I'm sure all the donations really helped the food pantry. This is perfect in time for Thanksgiving which is a very busy time. I was happy to do something other than filing this week. Although I know this is helpful, it was exciting to help with something that is more directly related to the actual pantry.

Our class at the shelter was very informal tonight, considering that we started with one participant, and had two more who were in and out while we were there. We were planning to have another current events discussion, like we had in one of the earlier weeks we were at the shelter. However, with only one person, we couldn’t have everyone read an article and share for an hour. In the end, all for us, including Auntie Danie, sat in the booths and read three of the articles we brought. This kind of worked to our advantage for the evening, because the woman who was there is someone who isn’t totally opposed to being in the class, but won’t usually participate or speak up too much unless directly asked. In this way, the six of us read all read the article that sounded the most interesting to her, and then discussed it. As we finished reading, another shelter resident sat down with us and joined in the discussion about the judge who refused to marry an interracial couple. We eventually read two more articles about the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and H1N1, these times taking turns reading them out loud—partially because we were short copies for everyone to read at once, and partially because the man who joined us has bad eyesight and doesn’t like reading. Before we were done for the evening, his wife came in and told him that he needed to call and see if her medicine had come into the pharmacy, and if it hadn’t, he needed to take her to the hospital. She has a medical condition or injury that has prevented her from working for an extended period of time. We had discussed this at an earlier class because she gets benefits because of her injury, but doesn’t know if they confer to her children. I’m not sure is she eventually went to the hospital or not, but hopefully the situation was resolved after we left.

Anna Hallman

October 26, 2009

Reading Days Reflection

 

Our experience in Washington is both memorable and influential in how I think about my role with Campus Kitchens’ and in the greater community. Our first night back, as I got into bed, I thought about how cold it was outside. I considered the number of people huddled under layers of tattered clothing, sleeping on heat vents and side steps of government buildings. I remembered the faces of people we had met at D.C. Central Kitchen, N. Street, the National Coalition Against Homelessness Panel, and men and women we provided clothes for through D.C. Outfitters. Since our return, I have been more acutely aware of the weather, and how that is affecting the homeless population. I have thought about what I can do as a college student, here and now, to better the lives of poverty stricken individuals, and what I may be able to do in the future.

Not only did being in a new city offer new opportunity, (as I had never before been to Washington,) but the people we met and the time we spent most specifically at D.C.C.K. really opened my eyes to the hardships of homelessness, the opportunity that is available, and the continued instability that results from past experience as a homeless individual. Some of the stories I heard were unbelievable. Stories from people I never would have guessed to be previously homeless facing unbelievable challenges. People who not only conquered homelessness, but conquered it with strength and now have great spirit. It’s amazing to me what people can endure and still find it in themselves to seek happiness in another day and move forward.

A reoccurring message that became something of a theme during our time in D.C. was that the homeless want merely to be treated as humans. However simplistic this may seem, it isn’t something that we had necessarily discussed in class. So much of the battle that the homeless population seems to have to fight is derived from the sense that they are not as human, or not as acceptable within society, due to their status. Since our return to campus, I have found myself reflecting on this point often. I hate to think of the number of homeless people around our country and around our world whose primary struggle is fighting a sense that they are not human. Every being born on this earth should feel human. Though one person may be born into a family with greater resources than another, ultimately, the fundamental feeling of being human, and experiencing all the emotions that go along with that, should be equal among us.

Our experience in Washington led me to consider many aspects of homelessness that would have been otherwise unknown. Being in a city where homelessness is so prevalent, and talking about the issue with people who have experienced homelessness or are homeless now was an incredible experience. While reading in class has been enjoyable, and has brought to our attention many factors of extreme poverty and homelessness, it is experience that is truly enlightening. Our trip has made me want to learn more, delve deeper into the subject, and begin to understand what more I can do to change the epidemic of homelessness in America.

 

This weeks shelter visit was surprisingly brief compared to some of our last visits mainly due to the fact that there were only a total of three residents attending that week’s lesson. For the lesson this week we shelter ladies had prepared another current events discussion, something that we had done once before, but when less people were willing to participate. The articles that we brought discussed a variety of topics including Obama’s promise to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the armed forces, a federal judge who refused to marry an interracial couple, H1N1 vaccinations, etc... The whole discussion was very interesting and it was nice to hear one of the more quiet residents give her opinion on all of the articles. We read parts of them aloud and then discussed our thoughts and opinions, often branching out into real life experiences and applications. All in all, everyone is the room had very similar thoughts, but everyone had something new to teach or contribute. I was glad that we had picked a lesson that was so perfect for small groups, it really worked out to our advantage. Currently, I am trying to organize a cooking lesson for what looks to be one of the early weeks of December, something that should be an enjoyable experience for the shelter residents. Until then we will keep up with a different variety of the lessons we have been giving! Melissa Dorrance

Today we had a special breakfast at the Senior’s Center as a fundraiser for the Center. There were extra people there for the breakfast, so I had the chance to meet new folks who do not come in as often. I worked with the other volunteer cook pancakes and eggs, then serve the food. If there is one thing I love about working with senior citizens its that they are always so appreciative of anything you do for them. Their gratitude seems to exceed that of any other age group. One woman said she was “just tickled pink” that we made her a delicious, hearty breakfast. She said “no one ever cooks for me, I’m usually doing the cooking” so it felt good to be able to turn the tables and do something nice for them. We had a great meal together as a family more than a group of friends. Around dining room tables, each "family" shared jokes, stories, and a few laughs as well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the company. We raised a total of $100 from the breakfast for the Senior’s Center this morning!

We collected almost 50 lbs. of food today. It was a fine collection, and we were by no means lacking for food, as the fridge at the kitchen was very, very full. I would like to have seen more fruit and veggies coming in, however, we had good donations. It is hard to complain when week after week, we have something to contribute to the kitchen, no matter the final quantity of food. There were a lot of cookies donated this week from Sheetz! There were also three Monster drinks donated, which was funny. I'm not quite sure how those will be incorporated into a meal....

After many weeks of picking food up, I am beginning to become more and more curious about what people think about receiving some of the food we collect. I would be interested to know if the people receiving the food have a similar wish to mine, in that they would like to be seeing more fruits and veggies, or if they are perfectly satisfied with the more common donations of sandwiches, cookies, and the various Servo dishes. (???)

 

 

Some girls from the Women’s study class did the session at the shelter this week, and it was really nice to just sit in a booth with the other residents and do the lesson. I thought that it gave us a chance to relax and interact with everybody on a more casual level, mostly because we had no responsibilities as far as teaching was concerned. It was interesting, because in the in-group/out-group phenomenon, I think we were moving from an extreme out-group to a grayer area—we definitely can’t be considered “one of them” but we have gotten to know the people that are there every week, and its nice to notice that progress. The class itself was quite enjoyable. It was a women’s empowerment focus that was really a general empowerment for both the men and women, based on the idea that everyone has something that they have to overcome. It was interesting to note that the environment was different than most women’s issues discussions that I have been in. The women were actually the ones saying that a woman just can’t do everything that a man could, while the men pretty much talked about equal opportunity and their dislike of the idea that a man is responsible for getting a job while a woman stays home and gets taken care of. It was an interesting discussion, if only because I think that life experience greatly affected the way the conversation went. A man who has had difficultly securing a job resents the fact that a woman can stay at home without being accused of being a non-contributing member of society. Similarly, I think the women were focusing on physical differences between men and women and were saying that women couldn’t do all heavy labor jobs. Still, I feel most enlightened this evening by my new knowledge of Professor Fee’s feeling of masculine superiority, which is primarily based on the fact that he can sign his name in the snow is cursive, and I can’t. My response to this is that I have never tried to sign my name in the snow, so who knows if I can or not, and besides, only men would consider peeing in the snow a talent. That can stay in the “boy box,” thanks!