Chicago Cares Goes Caroling

Location: DePaul Student Union & Multiple Locations

Date: Saturday, December 19, 2015; 9:30 am-12:30 pm

It was that time again and I picked up my Santa hat and headed to the “DePaul Student Union” on a cold morning.  Chicago Cares had sent out a link to some music site for us to listen to the tunes beforehand, but I of course skipped that part of the process, preferring to “improvise” instead.  I entered the building to find a lot of familiar faces, including staff members - some former - and some volunteers who usually come for this event.  The song books for this year looked professionally done and had an index page and were alphabetically ordered.  This would help a lot as we searched for requests.  I picked one up and climbed aboard our bus, where Christmas music was playing and people were being chirpy.

"Frosty" was back again

Our first stop was at “Edith Spurlock Apartments”, which was just a few blocks away, but due to the one way streets etc., it took us longer than a brisk walk to get there.  We went inside to see that the regular Chicago Cares breakfast was going on there and residents were being served.  We assembled in lines and then took requests, starting with “Frosty The Snowman”.  There were a few requests for slow numbers like “Silent Night” and another one which I had never heard before.  We also did “Feliz Navidad”, and the performance was much better than previous years.  I was a bit out of it today and one volunteer mentioned that she saw me not sing some parts – it was the carol I had not heard before.  Plus it’s not like we were the “Albert Hall troop”, were we!

We got back on the bus and next stop was at “Flannery House”, where I used to go for “Arts & Eats” project, and which had been a stop on our caroling tour 2 years ago.  But this time instead of the room downstairs, we were on their top floor, which has an outstanding view of the city and was perfect for this activity.  We took an elevator in batches and on arrival upstairs, saw that the room was tiny for the number of people that we had.  I squeezed inside and found myself behind some fitness equipment.  At least I wasn’t in the hallway like some folks.  We took requests and for most parts, did carols that we had not performed at the first location.  After a few over here, we took off for our last stop. 

We were headed to “Diversey Square” and it took us a bit longer to get there.  As we went inside, all the residents cheered and it was by far the warmest reception that we had today.  They seemed genuinely pleased to have us there, unlike the others who had been bothered that we had disturbed their breakfast.  We started by singing “Happy Birthday” to a resident and then the request was to do that in Spanish, which of course I could not participate in – hope that was ok with the volunteer who had criticized me.  We took some requests and then did the big one, “12 Days of Christmas”, which is by far my favorite carol and I really enjoyed this performance.  We did a few more and then we were done.  The “resident coordinator” thanked us for coming and the residents wished us on our way out.  We got on the bus and were dropped off back at ‘DePaul’.  I put my hat away for another year.  It had been good, but I had not had as much fun as before.  Perhaps this was not a holiday season that I was looking forward to.

Bingo Fun At Britton Budd

Location: Britton/Budd Apartments

Date: Monday, December 14, 2015; 6:15 -7:30 pm

The place was decorated for the holidays

I always love coming here and today was no exception.  I arrived to see that the entire place had been decked out in Christmas decorations and the lobby which is already quite good to begin with, was looking even better.  I saw my buddy Elvina and she was carrying some mail and packages.  She looked tired and for the first time since I have known her, she looked…old.  I went inside and after signing up with Veronica, I sat down with Elvina and another lady Leslie, who made sure that she got my name right.  She also remembered that I had called the game last time and mentioned that I had been lucky for her.  I said, well then let’s do it again.  I asked for her favorite number and she said that it was 7, whereas Elvina’s was 8, which I knew.  Leslie said that she had read somewhere that 7 signified end of things and 8 was a new beginning.  I had not heard of such a thing, but it did sound fascinating.

Today’s prizes had a distinct holiday theme and one resident lady had even donated a box of festive cookies with a bow on top.  I saw Elvina eyeing those and said that we would win those for her.  Speaking of cookies, Veronica had baked a batch of “Chocolate Chip” cookies for the residents and everyone made a beeline for them.  I told Elvina that I would get one for her and she said that she could go and get it herself!  Leslie kept saying that the cookies were good and Elvina said, “You always see the best in everything”.  Now this could either be the sweetest thing or maybe those cookies were just plain bad!

I asked Elvina how her holiday shopping was going and she said that her daughter had gotten Elvina’s dog Magic a bigger bed.  It seems that Magic had liked the bed when visiting Elvina’s daughter and thus the new present.  I asked what she had gotten for her kids and she said that she had bought the same thing for her 4 daughters and 1 son – fluffy socks.  Leslie said she gotten some “Fleece” pants and underwear for herself.  Okay then.  The game started and a couple of people won, with Elvina watching closely if they would take the cookies; looking pleased when they didn't.  Then I won at the same time as another resident and I told Elvina to go get it.  She rushed forward to grab the cookies so fast that it would put younger people to shame. Yeah, that thing about her seeming old was premature.

I was on a roll and won the next round in record time, with the first 5 numbers on my board.  I asked Leslie to pick and she got a “Bodywash”.  Elvina won again and picked something that looked like “Cookie cans”.  There were 2 of them and she said that she would give them to each of her great grandkids.  I told her not to forget to insert some candies in them.  Veronica asked if anyone else wanted to call and I said that since Leslie had called me lucky for her, I would do so.  I called the next couple of rounds and poor Leslie did not win, though Elvina did again and picked up a small pouch like thing, which she then returned for something else.

After a few rounds, I was replaced by another volunteer and then sat next to the lady who always translates each number in Spanish for others.  She’s a nice lady and smiled whenever I pointed out that she had missed a number.  She had picked a nice Christmas themed towel and I complimented her on that.  I asked if she would use it as a towel and she said no and neither should her husband, since she wanted it for decorations.  There were a few others who had not won even once and Veronica ensured that they all got something before the end.  The last game was a jackpot round with 4 prizes and the first winner would take all, which made it high stakes.  One gentleman won them and then it was time to go.  Veronica asked if I wanted to be a leader for this and I declined, saying that I usually go to “Pet Therapy” on Monday’s.  I bid Elvina happy holidays and left after a fun evening. 

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, December 02, 2015; 5:45-8:15 pm

It had been 2 months since I had been here and so was looking forward to this evening.  It was nice to see some of the regulars like little Hannah and John already here.  Marianne greeted me with a hug and then assigned me my duty, which was slicing “gyros” - though not in a cool way where the meat revolves on a spit.  There were several pans with thick slabs of meat and couple of volunteers were already slicing them as thin as possible. I got hold of a knife and started slicing a slab.  It was a big one and it took me some time to get through it, to the extent that I had some cramps in my hand at the end.  After arranging the slices on a tray, I was glad to hand over the duties of slicing the last one to a new enthusiastic volunteer who was excited at being picked.  Aah, perks of being a regular.

The menu for this evening

There were a few new volunteers and I learned that they had found ‘Breaking Bread’ online through the ‘GCFD’ website. Marianne said that because all the places where the people could volunteer are arranged alphabetically, 'Breaking Bread' were at the higher end and thus people came here first.  Plus it was the holiday season and people are usually in a more “giving” mood.  Chef Dan and his wife were nowhere to be seen and I thought that we had lost one more chef.  Marianne said that they were just away and one of our regular volunteers, Adam, who is also a chef, had cooked today.  The menu was “Gyro on homemade Pita” – I was impressed by the homemade part - with “Tzatziki sauce”, rice with “Green Peas and Cheese sauce” and then “Blueberry Crumble” with “applesauce” on top. I wasn't sure about the “applesauce” but the rest looked like a solid menu. 

There were a lot of volunteers and so I could hang out in the "mancave" - as Marianne calls it - with John, Joe and Mike.  Joe was leaving Chicago to start a new job and I for one would be sad to see a familiar face go.  I joined a spirited discussion on “Pot” and was hoping that Marianne, who now was giving the new volunteers a welcome speech, wouldn't hear us.  After the prayer, we assigned duties and I elected to serve.  Before we started I went over to chat with Phil who was playing the piano and he asked if I sang or played, at which I said that I was “tone deaf”.  He said that he was looking for someone to sing and I asked about the usual lady who sings the “Beatles”. She wasn't here yet, though he said that she wanted to do "Kiss from a Rose" today, which would be terrific. 

We lined up and my task was to start the plating with “pita” and then piling two huge strips of “gyro” on top.  I would then pass the plate further along for the rest of the stuff.  We started serving and it moved at a fair pace as usual.  Once the first wave was done I took over the tallying duties during seconds.  There were a lot of people who came back and we were able to give away almost everything.  I went over to stack the chairs and wipe down the tables, with a little boy following me.  He really wanted to help with the wiping and so I let him do it.  We were done soon and after bidding Joe goodbye I told Marianne that since this was a 5-Wednesday month, I could possibly come on the last Wednesday if she needed me.

Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2015; 5:00-10:00 pm

Yes, there was one of these as well

Tonight’s theme was called “Back 2 The Future”, as a tribute to the year shown in the 2^nd film - 2015, with its flying cars.  Well, I’m still waiting for that.  I arrived and while checking in, met Kat our new Volunteer Coordinator who has replaced Natalie.  I joined my colleagues for our staff meeting and saw that all of tonight’s activities were aligned with the movie.  They had even managed to secure a ‘DeLorean’ that was parked outside for photo ops.  Not sure if it was powered by a “Gigawatt Flux Capacitor” though!

We went on a tour and saw the ‘Rube Goldberg Machine’ activity where visitors were asked to design a contraption that would “feed the dog”, by dropping a jar of “dog food” balls, into a dog food bowl on the floor – similar to the opening scene of the first movie.  Next, we went across to the “Curiosity Classroom” to see the “3-D printers” in action.  I saw one printer making a toy ‘DeLorean’ and also a complex 3-D vase which would take all of 3 hours to make.  I asked what material was being used and the gentleman said “ABS”.  Aah, I remember a paper I had to write on it back in the day.  I asked the cost of operation and apparently it’s not much, just a few dollars. 

‘Argonne Lab’ was doing some sort of an “acoustic demo” where small objects could be suspended in air using sound waves.  The only problem was that you could hear that frequency and it wouldn’t be pleasant after a longer exposure.  I asked what the practical application was and one guy said “Applied Science”.  This wasn’t revealing and so I followed up with, “How do you make money”, and the other person responded that Pharmaceutical companies had shown interest for some of their drug studies.  We went upstairs to see the “Photobooth” which had props from the movie like the futuristic jacket, wigs, glasses and of course, the “Hoverboard”!  Our final stop was at the beer station and in the spirit of the movie; a brewery had developed special brews just for this evening.  Every guest was to have 3 tickets each for samples and they needed volunteers to help collect these tickets.  Yay for science!

It was just after 6 pm and I went over for my first assignment, which was at ‘Rube Goldberg Machine’.  There was no one over in the classroom except a staff member Adrianna.  For the next several minutes we had a good discussion around the ‘Milky Way’ and center of galaxy, but still no one was coming.  We also realized that the tiny balls were bouncing off the dog bowl as they fell from the table, adding to the complexity of the design.  There were several things that people could use in their construction, including pipes and cardboard pieces as well as other paraphernalia.  A couple came in and we explained the task, at which they got very excited.  Others started coming in and soon the room got full. 

The people were really committed to the task and we had several ideas in progress simultaneously.  People were ingenious and some had put a box around the dog food bowl to prevent the balls from escaping.  I was walking about giving advice and challenged one team to trigger the fall without touching, mentioning that they could use the vibrate function on their phone by calling it, thus setting it in motion.  A group of 4 girls came in and they were carrying a cake box.  They said that it was their friend’s birthday and she wasn’t here yet.  At this I said that I would eat the cake if she didn’t show up soon!  The room was busy and many were waiting to do their own thing, but my time was up and I reluctantly left

I was on “Pocket Science” for my next shift and I went downstairs to get my favorite, “Smelly Space”.  Some of the bottles were losing their fragrance and I had to find the ones which still had some smell.  I picked “Jupiter – inner and outer”, “Moon” and “Venus”.  I came upstairs and saw that the party was on in the “Solar System Gallery”.  I walked about in the “Mission Moon” section and saw a couple who looked lost.  I gave them some guidance and then asked if they wanted to do an activity with me.  When they said yes, I took them through my routine.  I went outside and was approached by two girls and a guy, who asked me what they should do.  I said that they could do something with me and so took them through the activity as well.  They were very attentive and one of the girls was making a limerick with the planets - though I stopped her before she could do Uranus!

It was 8 pm and I was at the “Beer Ticket Line” next, collecting tickets and putting them in a box.  Yeah, very scientific indeed.  There was a long line and I was taking tickets non-stop and telling the beer pourers which sample the guests wanted.  Fortunately for me, soon only one type was still remaining and so all I had to do was tell them how many samples and collect that many tickets.  With 3 tickets each the guests were consuming a lot of beer.  So much so that we were soon out of beer at this station.  There was another station and so I went there and relieved Bob.  Over here they still had 2 types and so I was back to asking guests their choice  I was also picking up the samples and handing them to people meaning I was really busy…very very busy.  For the next 30-40 minutes all I did was take orders and hand people the beer of their choice - till we ran out of both beers.  While doing this, I met my friends to whom I had given my tickets for this evening, and they vouched for the validity of the beer. 

My last duty was at the “Photobooth”, where I was to take peoples pictures using their phones.  People would come, dress up in props and then pose for me.  Many were wearing the “Doc Brown wig”, white coat and glasses while others were doing the “Marty McFly Jacket”.  But no matter what, everyone used the “Hoverboard”.  One lady was not getting in the photo with her friends and I urged her to do so, which she finally did.  When she came back for more with other people, I joked that she was now hooked and wanted a portfolio done.  I took hundreds of pictures and around 9:50 pm Michael came and asked me to wrap up.  Downstairs in “Johnson Theater”, a trivia game was in progress.  Although I would have loved to have stayed, I collected my things and left after a fun evening…and the theme was my favorite movie too.

Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, November 16, 2015; 6:15-7:45 pm

The fluffy Mickey

I had cancelled the last couple of times that I had signed-up due to work, but was determined to show up this evening.  I walked in and saw that Charta was there along with her owner Elaine, as well as an excitable fluffy ‘Maltese’ named Mickey.  I went inside the Bingo room and saw that Jim was there along with some other regulars, though there was no sign of Emma, Jack and Larry.  Jim mentioned that both Jack and Larry were not doing too well, especially Larry.  He said that our old friend Gwyn had come last week to celebrate Lee's birthday.  It seems like yesterday that we were doing the same and it had been one year.  I mentioned to Jim that I missed that project.  It was my first one with Chicago Cares and would always have a special place in my heart. 

Emma came in and she seemed half asleep, though she said that she was fine when I asked her.  I went back to the other room and it was getting full.  Besides our Volunteer leader Robyn with Bruce and June, there were other 2 other ‘Maltese’s’, all males and with Mickey, the 3 dogs looked like brothers!  I took charge of June and we went over to get treats from Joe.  Bruce found his way there as well - talk about his smell - and both of them had their fill of the treats.  I went outside to wait with Bruce and June and noticed that they had posted all residents birthdays for the month of November. I noticed that Emma's was tomorrow and I pointed it out to others, wondering how old she was. 

As usual, I was going to be with June, Robyn and Bruce.  We started on the 1^st floor and stopped over to see a lady who looked at us skeptically.  But Robyn was doing a great job of engaging her and we learned that it was just her second day here and so had no clue on what was happening. I saw a small glass ornament which had been colored and we learned that it was from her 3 year old daughter.  She opened up a bit with us and we chatted for some time before moving on.  That was it for this floor and we moved on upstairs and met with Loritta.  I asked how she was doing and she pointed to her bed and shrugged.  I told her that I was going to Atlanta, the land of her son.  She asked me why and I responded that unlike him, it wasn’t for a woman!  Robyn and I noticed a kitten valentine card on top of her bed and since it had no name, I said that Loritta had a secret admirer.  “Then why isn’t he in the bed with me”, she asked.  I couldn’t stop laughing and was doing so as we left.

We stopped to see Polly and rather than her usual exuberant self, she seemed tired and was incoherent.  Her roommate Dena looked aged and tired as well.  Polly seems to have aged quite a bit over the last few weeks and it was noticeable in the way she spoke, though she was still as sharp as ever.  She asked when I would come back and I said not for a couple of weeks.  She said she would send the dogs to find me and I said fair enough.  We stopped at another place on the 2^nd floor and met with a new lady.  She asked my name and made sure that she pronounced it right…and made sure we pronounced hers right as well.  She loves dogs and will be a permanent fixture on our visits.  Next, we went to see if David was still here and finally after saying that he would for all these years, he really has left – which was bittersweet for us.

We went to the 3^rd floor to see Jerry and Charta was already there, planted on his bed.  We waited for her to leave before putting June and Bruce on his bed, where they got some treats and then stared at the rest of them while we chatted.  Poor things were getting tired and also drinking a lot of water.  But we couldn’t leave without seeing Hannah.  We asked about her book and she showed us a rejection letter from one of the publishers.  But she also promised to keep fighting.  She said she was a ‘Gemini’ and so always tried to convince others that she was right.  I said that I was a ‘Gemini’ too, and so empathized with her.  When Robyn said that Hannah’s hair looked nice and better than hers, Hannah said that Robyn looked great no matter what.  When Robyn said no, I said don’t argue since Hannah was after all a ‘Gemini’ and would win the argument.  Hannah said that her old roommate Linda had gone somewhere and she didn’t know where.  We said that it must be for a procedure since her name was still on her room…at least I hoped so.  It was time for the pups to leave and I bid them farewell.  I saw that Emma was still looking sleepy and before I could wish her for birthday, Fran took her upstairs.  Until next time then.  And I better come soon; else Polly would set the dogs on me! 

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy