High Plains Food Bank (Amarillo - Friday)

We spent the morning at the High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo, Texas. This being only my second food bank experience, I prayed that I would not being repackaging chicken broth again. We lucked out though, not a box of chicken broth in sight.

Instead, they had us sorting toiletries (food banks are not just all about the food you know) and repackaging beans (so much better). Our first job was kind of strange. There are these boxes that are packed with the toiletries at random. The people at the food bank want the boxes to weigh 15 pounds before they are shipped out. Our job was to grab a box and place it on a scale. If it weighed less than 15 pounds (every box did), we had to cut it open and add more stuff until it did weigh that much. We then had to re-tape it and re-stack it. Basically it was about quantity, not quality.


My work station.

This is where classes like Business Process Management (which I hated with a passion last term) come into play. Clearly, it would have been a better use of time and resources to pack the boxes correctly the first time (ie at 15 pounds). It was quite a chore to try and jam and extra 5 pounds into practically every box as it was already full. I was really concerned at one point when I stuffed five lice kits into one box (they are heavy) that the boxes were going to individual families (who needs 5 lice kits). No worries though. The boxes are going out to different agencies in bulk and then being re-distributed to families.

It did not take us very long to complete the task. MacAdam, Alex, Jenny and I weighed, opened and added product to the boxes. Willen taped them back up and re-stacked them. At one point, something was hissing and Willen and I tore through a box to find aerosol hairspray going off. We laughed hysterically until we found out that everything was sticky and we had to rearrange it. EW.


Jenny and MacAdam rearranging the goods.

I imagine people needing the basics; shampoo, conditioner (maybe), soap, razor, and deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste. That is not really how it works though. All of the toiletries are donated. Most come from stores and a defective in some way. The label is crooked or the product is no longer in style. There is nothing wrong with any of the actual soap or anything but it can still not be sold to the public. Hence, there are some really weird things.

In an hour alone I packaged shampoo, razors, hairspray, conditioner, soap, hand soap, bubble bath, mouth wash, floss, electric toothbrushes, eyeliner, wart remover, barrettes, hair ties, blush, eye shadow, bug spray, shaving gel, Q-tips, cotton balls, perfume, toothbrushes, post-its (no idea), tweezers, deodorant, lice kits, toothpaste, tampons, men’s hair color, fake eyelashes, eye drops, nose spray, lotion, hair gel, nail polish, and powder.


The boys were pretty tired and took a quick nap during our break.

Job two was repacking beans. This again seemed like bad business process management to me. The beans had previously been sorted into 5lb bags and then put two bags to a box. Our job was to open the boxes, open the bags and repackage them into one pound portions for family boxes. Basically, we were re-doing work that someone had already done previously. There was only four stations set-up so Willen and I double teamed it. A few hours later, we re-packaged 25,000 pounds of dried beans.


Willen and I may have monkeyed around but we still packed the most beans.

The High Plains Food Bank was significantly smaller than the Albuquerque Road Runner Food Bank. They did not carry fresh produce nor did they ever have us in sterile environments (because I doubt there were any). Overall the food bank appeared to operate on a much more local level than the Road Runner Food Bank in Albuquerque.

The Road Runner Food Bank (Albuquerque – Thursday)

Today was my first ever experience of volunteering at a food bank. I was expecting to sort cans, pack boxes or something. What I was not expecting was the chicken broth….


Quite a noble goal!

MacAdam, Alex, Willen and I hit the Road Runner Food Bank at 10:30am. Jenny was off doing more trip logistics and Sandy and the Doodles were walking in a park I assume.

First things first; we had to be sterilized. We washed our hands, put on lab coats, snapped on hairnets and put on gloves. We looked like mad scientists.


Willen scooping chicken broth. (Look at the mess that I made.)

We were then led into a sterile room (it looked like a lab) where we would be working. Our job was to repackage dry chicken broth. Tyson Chicken, bless their misguided soul, had donated over 1,700 lbs of dry chicken broth in 90 lb boxes. As it turns out, nobody wants nor needs 90 lbs of DRY chicken broth (a shocker, I know). We had to open the 90lb boxes, scoop .75 lbs of broth into plastic bags, heat seal the bags, staple directions and ingredients to each bag and then pack them 30 to a box.


Alex stapling directions and ingredients to the bags.

Let the chaos begin. First, the powder is extremely fine and gets everywhere (and I mean everywhere). It gunks up the scale (which is now covered in a giant plastic bag) and the heat sealer. For awhile, every time we swallowed, it tasted like chicken Top Ramon. It was going pretty well but I am a disaster in the broth packaging business. I spilled more of the fine dust then everybody else combined. After four very sticky (the chicken broth becomes sticky after being exposed to the air for a few minutes) and chickeny hours later we successfully completed repackaging two of the 90 lb boxes. (I feel like the Food Bank has a ways to go with the Tyson chicken broth.)

Afterwards, we got a tour of the facility by an extremely competent woman named Christine. New Mexico, like Oregon, is considered to be one of the hungriest states in the nation. The Road Runner Food Bank has been in its current location for two years and is the largest hunger relief organization in New Mexico. The warehouse currently holds two million pounds of food and eventually will be able to hold seven. Sixty percent of the food being processed is considered to be fresh produce.


You are looking at two million pounds of food.

The Road Runner is not the only food bank in the state but they are the largest and deal directly with Feeding America. As a food bank, they are top of the line and deal not only with Albuquerque but with the entire state of New Mexico.

The food bank runs many worthwhile programs including the Food for Kids Program, the Mobil Food Bank, the Senior Helpings Program as well as many others. The tour really opened up my eyes to how families with hunger insecurity live. Christine showed us a food box that was supposed to last a family of four for a whole month. I was shocked. These families really have to know how to best utilize the food that they receive in order to make it last. Not to mention the fact that they also have to ration it correctly.


This is suppose to feed a family of four for 30 days. That is 76 meals assuming that weekday lunches are skipped or found else where.

The most interesting story that I heard was about a boy named Frankie. The Backpack Program is meant to provide weekend meals to school aged children and their younger siblings up to third grade. After third grade, the kids are on their own. Frankie was a high schooler who was on scholarship to a private prep school. Although he went to a school where tuition was $20,000 a year, he was living in extreme poverty. Christine (she used to work as a teacher at this private school) said that it was heart wrenching to watch him try to stay awake in class. It was not the fact that he was slacking off, he just literally was exhausted from not eating. It is sad and interesting how often situations like this occur, even in affluent environments.

Rio Ranch Boys and Girls Club (Albuquerque - Wednesday)

By our third Boys and Girls Club – Rio Ranch, Albuquerque – I am convinced that there is no such thing as a typical club.

The Corvallis Club (near OSU) has an AMAZING facility (which I have never really realized until now). Two gyms, a stage, a recording studio, a computer lab, a teen only lounge, a kid ran coffee shop, an art room, class rooms, a game room, ect. The Medvale Club was well run with clipboards, schedules and an abundance of adults. The Lied Club had a laid back community feel with kids running around everywhere.

The Rio Ranch Club was different from all of these. The facility was isolated in the middle of the desert with bars on the windows. It was smaller than any others that we have seen and in poorer condition. The people in charge did not seem happy (it could have been a bad day I guess) and yelled way more than I thought was necessary.






The kids were the same as everywhere though; happy, excited, rambunctious and causing trouble. We had about 60 in total, 5 to 11 year -olds. We gave them the spill on hunger in the USA and had them color what hunger meant to them.

Here are a few of their pieces:


Abby




Alexis - 10 years old

The Inn at Paradise (Albuquerque - Tuesday and Wednesday Nights)

One of the perks about participating in noble causes and charity work is that people like you. As a result, most of the hotels and places that we stay are given to us complimentary. People like what we are doing and they want to help us out any way that they can. Usually it is the big hotel chains (Double Tree, Hampton, Sheraton, Hilton, ect) that can afford to comp our rooms but in Albuquerque, we got the opportunity to stay at the Inn at Paradise.



The Inn at Paradise is a beautiful family owned hotel on a country club golf course. The rooms are large and comfortable with a large deck that overlooks what I can only assume is the Garden of Eden. The Niemczak family has owned the inn for almost 11 years now.







Because I was not raised in an overly religious family, I sometimes forget the power of faith in a higher presence. The Niemczak family is Polish and they are stanch Christians. I know this because I ate breakfast and spoke with the mother during my stay there. As I have mentioned several times, most people are extremely enthusiastic about our cause. Mrs. Niemczak was the first person that I have met who was genuinely disappointed that we are not a religious organization (we are a business organization). It was not that she did not believe in our cause or that she was biased against non-religious groups; it is just that she thinks that we cannot be as effective.

Her reasoning was that people (especially children) are not just hungry physically but also emotionally. “They are hungry for love”, she tells me. She believes that our efforts must be combined with pray. “We must put our trust in the Lord.”

I am not sure that praying will help anybody physically (what I am aiming for- curing physical hunger). But after talking to Mrs. Niemczak, I believe that she is right. Eighty-seven percent of Americans identify as being religious. Religious beliefs play a large role in who we are as Americans and dictate a large part of our lifestyles. I think that this is essential to keep in mind as we continue to move across the country. To best help someone, we have to know who they are and where they are coming from. This means recognizing and embracing the power of religion in the face of a national issue.

With this in mind, I will couple my efforts with pray from now on - because if nothing else, it will at least keep hunger at the forefront of my thoughts.

If you would like more information about the Inn at Paradise please visit: http://www.innatparadise.com/index.html

Painted Rocks and the Moab Desert (Utah - Monday Night)

After the Lied Boys and Girls Club in Salt Lake City, we hit the road for Cortez, Colorado. (a quick layover on our way to Albuquerque). As a result, we got to drive through beautiful southern Utah including the Moab Desert.

I have never been to this part of the country and was blown away by the intensity of it. (The only reason that I was awake was because the boys made me drive for once – 349 miles – but I am glad they did!) The scale was magnificent and the colors were otherworldly. I can truly understand why people believe that there is something more.

We got to the famous Utah arches a bit late but Jenny insisted that we go and look at them anyways. The boys humored us for a while until it got pitch black and then demanded that we go and find dinner (It was only like 10:30pm – Jeez!).

These pictures do not do the drive justice but here they are:

A Day at the Zoo (Salt Lake City - Monday)

So, we were not literally at the zoo but it sure felt like that a times.

Today was our first day working at Boys and Girls Clubs. Our first stop was Midvale Club in the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Only Willen, MacAdam, Alex and I participated in this afternoon’s adventure. Jenny was doing logistics back at the Hotel and I assume that our fearless advisor was entertaining her Doodles somewhere.

We were more than a little surprised when we showed up and learned that we were in charge of doing activities with the entire clubhouse (140 elementary school aged kids). Usually we work with about 30 kids at a time but we know how to roll with the flow so we made a plan.



I took the Kindergartners, MacAdam took 1st graders and Willen took the 2nd graders. Alex floated around and took video and photos. Like flies to a light, the kids flocked to him; each wanting their picture to taken and then to see it right away. Poor Alex was more busy than the rest of us combined.


The family of a five-year-old.

After one hour with 20 four and five-year-olds, I have a new respect for Kindergarten teachers. Luckily my mad camp counseling skills came into use. There was a lot of “clap once if you can hear me” and “raise your hand if you can see me” reminders. Explaining the growing hunger problem to little kids is a tall task. I started by explaining to them who I was and where Oregon is (and what it is for that matter). We then talked about what hunger means (ie you are hungry) and that a lot of other kids in the United States feel like that too. That is about all the information that five-year-olds can process.




After that I passed out paper, markers, crayons and colored pencils and asked them to draw what hunger meant to them. Almost every kid drew food. Pizza, hamburgers, fruits and vegetables were the most common things. The kids were very rowdy but I do not feel that you can expect too much out of Kindergartners. After an hour we left to hit the Lied Boys and Girls Club in central Salt Lake City.


A poem by a second grader:
I dream, you dream, of a day when hunger is no more.
I dream, you dream, of the day when love has spread.

This club had a much different feel to it. The first thing that I noticed was that there were a lot more minority children and staff. There was also more of a sense of community to me. The kids were behind the desk, joking with the staff and helping sign us in. Adults spoke to the kids like equals and the kids seemed eager to please them.

Our lesson here was way smoother. First, the kids had the choice to come hang-out with us and therefore were way less disruptive. They seemed interested in the hunger issue and were very excited to color what hunger meant to them. Because we only had 30 children, it was easier to give each child individual attention between the four of us. After we were done with the art project the boys became jungle gyms to the kids and gave literally everyone a piggyback ride.


A pony named Willen.

I asked one of the staff members about the free lunch and dinner program. The Utah Food Bank supplies a free lunch each day to the Boys and Girls Club kids. Free dinner is also served Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The staff member was upset because every day that have a lot of extra food but they are not allowed to send it home with the children. Either the Food Bank or the State has a rule against it. She said that for many of the children at the club, this is the only meal(s) that they receive during the day. Apparently, we were in a relatively poor part of Salt Lake City and right in the middle of the territory of six different gangs. Now I was really surprised. Six gangs in the middle of a city with a strong Mormon stronghold?


Alex says he is not a kid person but the photo says otherwise....


The kids do not want MacAdam to leave!

She said that many of the parents in the community want their children at the club because it is a safe place. Many of the parents also ask the staff to make sure that their children eat at meal times. Despite the hardship that many of these kids face, they are happy and out-going.


Me and the kids! :)

The love of a child is endless. It is important that we nurture them so that this pattern of love continues.

One World Café (Salt Lake City – Monday)

Everybody eats. This is the concept for the One World Café.



Chef Giovanni is the owner of the café located in Salt Lake City. His business model is popping up around the country with surprising success (Giovanni’s is considered to be a non-profit). The notion is simple, if you are hungry, you can eat. There is no discrimination. Did I also mention that it healthy? Shocker, I know.

The pay system works in a couple different of ways. The at-cost price for preparing your meal (based on what you choose and the portion size) is suggested at the register. Anything you pay over that is considered a donation to the non-profit. If you cannot afford a meal, you can work one hour in exchange for one. (There is always something to clean as my old boss used to say at Bing’s Café!) If you do not want to work or cannot for some reason, rice and beans are always free.

The meal is surprisingly healthy too. Giovanni believes in healthy, organic and sustainable food and food sourcing. For those of you up to date on the “Green Movement” you know that organic and sustainable do not always go hand in hand. Chef Giovanni knows his stuff though. He has a flexible menu that changes daily based on what is in season, what there is an abundance of and what is cheap at the local farmers markets and stores in the area.

One World encourages customers to only take what they can eat and composts the leftovers.


My lovely meal.

Giovanni’s story is interesting. He has only owned the One World Café for 2 years but it has been open for 8 years. He originally worked as the head chef at a different restaurant in town when the old owner called him up and asked if he could work a couple days a week redesigning the menu and revamping the café. Before he knew it, he was working there three days a week, then volunteering and finally owning the café. The most interesting part for me was that Giovanni was called out of the blue. He had no previous connections to One World or the owner. He says that he fully supports the cause of no person left behind in the face of hunger and was surprise how the One World Café found him.

I happen to believe in fate however.

For more information or questions you can go to Facebook: One World – Everybody Eats, Salt Lake City or email Giovanni directly at giovannimail@gmail.com.

One World is located at 41 South 300 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Celebrate and Enjoy :)