Whitehead Boys and Girls Club (Atlanta –Thursday)

Today we are off to another Boys and Girls Club to educate young minds. We have decided to ramp up our curriculum and teach about healthy eating as well as hunger awareness. In true BGC fashion, we are left with 30 very rowdy and misbehaving 8 to 12 year old boys. Surprisingly though, they are good students for us. I have to remind them not to talk several times but they are engaged and practically jumping out of their seats to answer questions.


Me working with the boys.

Next come the 8 to 12 year old girls and wow were they bad. Boys and Girls Clubs will tell you that they are not daycares (although parents sometimes treat them as such). Kids are free to come and go as they please and it is not their job to discipline. I, however, feel that a little discipline is in order. Several kids got sent to time-out under my watch for essentially beating one another and being down right mean. It really makes me wonder what kind of parents they have. Of course, this is only a generalization of the worst kids. Some of them were fantastic and very bright.


MacAdam let the girls turn him into an artwork.

My favorite thing about children is their innocence when it comes to worldview. I have lived in situations where I have been a visual minority (yeah Spain). And let me tell you, you notice it, everyday, all day. This is a very odd feeling after coming from an environment where I am a visual majority. People do judge you on how you talk and the color of your skin; it is a fact. It is what you do with those judgments that define you as a person though. Children are a little different. They have not quite had enough time to form biases yet which lead to some really funny situations.


Alex working with the boys.

At the Whitehead BGC we were the only white kids and Willen was the only Asian for miles around. The little kids take no notice of this however. When I ask the girls about their cornrows and beautiful hair, they are shocked that I have never had my hair braided like that. “Nope.” I tell them, “Never.” Now they are really interested and explain the whole process to me. To sum it up, it sounds painful but the end result is really cool especially with the beads.


The kids liked to show off their work.

Open Hand (Atlanta – Thursday)

Open Hand is truly a remarkable organization. It was founded in the 1980s by a couple of guys who started cooking 14 meals a day out of their apartment to feed their friends suffering from HIV and AIDS. Fast forward now to 2010 where the process is mainstream and streamline.

Opens Hand has non-profit and for-profit business branches that essentially serve the same product. They make healthy, nutritionally balanced, pre-proportioned meals. The non-profit focuses on serving meals to individuals with special nutrition needs like those with diabetes, AIDS and HIV. The for-profit serves the same meals to people looking for a diet program with meals that are delivered. Cool model, huh? The for-profit actually helps keep the non-profit up and running which is just smart business.

Cooks make large vats of food (usually a protein dish and two veggie side dishes) and volunteers package them into TV tray style containers. Our job was to package tuna casserole, lima beans, and asparagus into the dishes (I was on lima bean duty) and then put the trays onto a conveyor belt where they were wrapped. Afterward, we did the same process but with noodles, chicken and sauce, peas and mixed greens. After just 3hrs we packaged 695 meals. Go us!


Take a break from the seriousness of life.

There is good news too for all of those interested or already eating Open Hand meals. Open Hand had the most intense sanitation policies ever! All hair had to be cover (ponytails and hair nets. Men even had to wear nets that covered their beards.), hands washed, gloves, aprons, closed toed shoes and here was the biggie for us, no jewelry, period. This proved a little difficult for me and Willen. I have a bunch of hippie jewelry that is just tied on and never comes off and ol’ Willen has some ancient Chinese protective symbol around his neck that is not suppose to come off either. We made it work in the end though.

For more information, visit their website at: http://www.projectopenhand.org

Stewing in Jackson (Jackson – Tuesday)

I was a little skeptical of our stop in Jackson Mississippi. After all, it has one of the highest crime rates in the entire nation. Like any other city we went to though; I found the locals warm and friendly. The Stewpot is a soup kitchen that has been around since the mid-eighties. The kitchen is housed in an old brick building and serves lunch time meals.


Welcome to the Stewpot.

Clients are invited to attend a church service beforehand but it is not required. Announcements are given (many revolving around the other services that are offered), we were all introduced (people from Oregon are always a novelty past like Texas), grace is said and people eat.

What is unique about this soup kitchen is that all the lunches are pre-served on trays.


Volunteers getting the meals ready.

When it is time to eat, clients come in and sit down at big round tables. Volunteers then served each person (men, women and children) with a tray and a drink. Normally I would worry about food going to waste with the pre-served trays because somebody might not like something but almost every plate was scraped clean. People were extremely appreciative and polite illustrating to me that not all dignity is lost despite the situation.


Today's lunch.


People enjoying their lunch.




Youth artwork at the Stewpot:

David Timothy aka The Soupman (Dallas – Monday)

David Timothy, aka the Soupman, is a saint in his community. He runs the Soup Mobil and has recently opened up several transitional housing programs in the South Dallas area. His soup kitchen is innovative for a few distinct t reasons. First, he goes to the people. The Soupman deals almost exclusively with homeless individuals and meets them in their community. His Soup Mobil has been stopping in the same spot since 2002 which has allowed him to build up quite a rapport with the people in that area. Second, homeless people serve food to others alongside volunteers. It is not about the privileged coming in and giving handouts to the deprived but working side by side to help your neighbor. Finally, the Soupman will be the first to tell you that serving food is not his primary goal; it’s love. “These people need love,” he tells us. “When God said feed his flock, he did not mean just physically.”

This reminds me of Mrs. Niemczak from the Inn at Paradise who was disappointed that we are not a religious group. I recognize the value in love and interaction more and more with each site visit. Sure, people are appreciative when I hand them a bowl of soup or a glass of juice but there is still a divide between us. It is when we talk that I see their eyes light up, a slight smile or even their personalities start to shine. It is simple too; I can ask them how they are doing today or compliment them on their shirt. Mrs. Niemczak and Mr. Timothy are right; while physical needs seem like the most important, it is actually the emotional needs that must come first. It is human contact, attention and even the basic the fact that someone else knows that you exist that makes the biggest difference in someone’s life at the end of the day.


Us, the Soupman and little Matthew who helped us out for the day.

The Soupman has a posse of employees and volunteers that help stream line his process. Everyday vats of soup are cooked in a small kitchen with whatever ingredients that the chef sees fit to use. Everybody then caravans to the meeting point at noonish with Eye of the Tiger blasting from the Soup Mobil to announce our arrival. Volunteers stand by the side as the local crew (the homeless individuals) set up the food line. As Mr. Timothy explained, they know the drill and can do it way faster than us newbies. After that we take our positions and grace is said. Today the line consists of the typical daily vitamin, bags of chips, donuts, a delicious homemade soup, peanut butter sandwiches, ice cream cups (in honor of the 4th of July) and juice. All of the food is donated so the selection really various day to day.


The chaos of set up.

As people move through the line, they are allowed to have one of each thing. The catch is that they are allowed to go through the line as many times as they want until the hour is up or the food runs out. Each day, 600 meals are provided. On this Monday, I think that we served about 150 people. If someone got there early and continued to go through the line for the whole hour, they could easily make it through 5 times. This is a very interesting model and the first of its kind that I have seen so far.

When it is time to go, it is time to go. The Soupman starts warning people ten minutes out that the line will be closing. Then BAM! Before I know it things are disappearing underneath me. Clean-up is a quick and everything quickly gets shoved back into the van. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is to avoid food riots but the message is read loud and clear. People disperse knowing that he will return again tomorrow. Faith is a common bond that holds everyone together in this little community whether it is faith in a higher power or the Soupman.


One happy customer!


For more information please visit the Soupman website at: http://www.soupmobile.org

The 4th of July (Dallas – Sunday)

It is official; I no longer want to be an indie hippie bum after college. I have seen how the “other half” live and I am not going back. The Fourth of July in Dallas Texas was AWESOME. We spent the day at Lake Cedar with MacAdam’s Uncle Towry learning to wakeboard and boat surf. I spent a good part of the afternoon having my face drug through the water but it was still really fun.

At night, we went to Uncle Towry’s friends, the Kelly’s, lake house to watch fireworks. Around 10:00pm we jetted around the lake (I could still wear a tank top, yeah!) to watch everyone light off mortars. The southern hospitality was unbelievable and everyone was so nice to us. I defiantly will be making my way back to Dallas in the future.


Uncle Towry showed us a good time on the lake!


Willen chillaxing on the boat. The boys thought that the pink life jacket was lucky.


Jenny and I enjoying the sun. With any luck, we will get a little color and not look so pale.


MacAdam was the best by far.


Alex surfing behind the boat.

And this is why we dress like traffic cones…. (Amarillo – Friday)

It is 12:00am and we need a snack…. Denny’s! This may be a hunger awareness tour across the country but it is quickly becoming a Denny’s tour. This is our third Denny’s so far and it is getting to the point where we are memorizing the menu.

Jenny and I arrive in our lovely traffic cone color Powered by Orange shirts and take a seat at the bar. Normally we do not create quite a scene but everybody wanted to know why we were wearing these bright orange shirts. Before long we had explained about our mission, where we were from (Shout-out to Oregonians!!) and what we are doing. We even passed out some Powered by Orange OSU swag to the Denny’s employees. Needless to say the traffic cone shirts have served their purpose. We are marketing magnets for OSU!


Jenny and me with our fabulous waiter Eddie from Denny's!

High Plains Food Bank Garden (Amarillo - Friday)

For the second half of Friday, we worked in the High Plains Food Bank Garden. The garden is an interesting project that is currently in its second year of operation. It is located in what use to be a vacant lot behind the Food Bank.



Last year, the garden produced 1,500 pounds of fresh food for the Kids Café Programs with only 1,000 square feet of land. With their new and spacious garden, they are hoping to eventually grow 20,000 pounds of fresh food.

The garden has one full time employee named Mark and two summer interns – Allison, a sophomore environmental engineer from Atlanta and the mysterious Kevin who never actually spoke to any of us.

We split up into two groups for the afternoon. MacAdam and Alex went with Mark to make more soil (compost, cow manure and sand) while Willen and I went with Allison to dig holes and plant herbs. (Kevin did other gardeny stuff around us and Jenny was off to do more logistics.)


The mysterious Kevin and Willen.

I quizzed Allison as I dug holes and learned quite a bit. The High Plains Food Bank Garden is all organic and the main goal is to provide children with fresh vegetables and encourage them to eat the veggies at an early age. Most of the plants are donated and the garden receives quite a bit of volunteers. For example, the herbs that we were planting were all donated by a local farm. We were placing them in between different vegetable plants because the plants have a naturally beneficial relationship when placed next to each other will help each other grow. Cool, I know. As I dig, I dig through a layer of bark chips, wet newspaper, dead grass and finally soil. Apparently this is layered gardening and it helps to prevent weeds.


Once a vacant lot, now a garden!

Gardening is hard work but it was nice to be working outside and with my hands in the dirt after being inside for a while. I like the concept of community gardens producing food to feed the hungry. I wonder if we will see more of them on our journey.