American Cancer Society: Walk & Roll

Location: Soldier Field

Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013; 8:00 am-12:15 pm

It was getting warmer outside and that meant the season for walks and runs was about to get underway.  I had signed up for many such events, including this one, but had not heard back from the organizers.  I asked Adam when I was at ACS for the sub-committee meeting the previous week, and he had written to Tessa, who was coordinating the volunteer effort for this event.  She wrote to me saying that I would be helping with the registration, and so I showed up at Soldier field a little before 8 am.  We were going to be situated outside the stadium and I checked-in with Tessa, who directed me towards Mary Kate, who was directing the volunteers at Registration.  Since there was a little bit of time before we began, I went to get coffee at a Dunkin Donuts truck.  The gentleman said that it would be ready in a short while, but as minutes went by and there was no sign of coffee, I left because I did not want to miss my training.  Looks like the guys in the truck were grinding the coffee using mortar and pestle!

The registration tent

Adam, whom I had met at the ACS offices, was going to be training us and it was quite straightforward.  People would be coming to us having either pre-registered or wanting to register.  If they had registered, we were to check their name on the list and if they had collected or raised money over $100, we were to give them a coupon for a t-shirt.  In case anyone wanted to register, we were to get them to fill out a form, collect $15 and then put both, the money and the form into an envelope.  Once there were 10 forms inside the envelope, it went to the accountants at the back of our tent. Since money was involved, we had also arranged for security to be at our station.

Yep, 3 ways to roll

The ‘Walk & Roll’ event was over 40 years old and raises funds to fight all forms of cancer.  Unlike the ACS sub-committee for Breast Cancer, that I am a part of, this event emphasized the fact that it was fighting all forms of cancer.  People could participate in three ways, either by walking or biking or roller-skating…hence the name.  ACS calls itself 'The Official Sponsor Of Birthdays’, and the pamphlet said that because of the advances in cancer research, over 350 more birthdays are celebrated every day - that’s over a 127 thousand lives saved each year. With these sobering thoughts, we were ready to begin.  

People started arriving and I went through the entire process with them.  Many who were pre-registered had raised in excess of $100 and I was handing them a coupon.  Some had raised a lot of money as a team, and were expecting multiple shirts.  But that was not the rule.  I was told to hand out only one shirt per person registered, no matter how much money they had raised in excess of $100.  For example, if a team of 10 had raised $1000, but that was owing to $950 through one person, they still got just one shirt.  I did not necessarily agree with this line of thinking, but it was the rule.  I feel that wearing a t-shirt promotes the cause, because it opens up discussion.  So ACS, if anything, should have been more than happy to give away t-shirts to all participants, but costs are king and I am sure they had a budget. 

I was partnered with a gentleman, who introduced himself as Ansar.  He was handling the money, while I checked on registrations.  We worked well together and were quite busy during the peak period, but also found some time to chat.  I learned that Ansar worked for PepsiCo and was representing the company as a volunteer at today’s event.  I asked him about the cola wars, more particularly how the States seem to have chosen sides, since one product has a monopoly in a particular State versus the other.  He said it wasn't just the states, but companies as well, for example McDonald's had a handshake with Coca-Cola to market their products.  Ansar lived in the suburbs and takes a train into downtown every day.  We talked about the two main Metra stations – Union and Ogilvie.  Since they were so close to each other, I could see how that may get confusing for newcomers.  Just the other day I was asked by someone on the street direction to the train station and when I asked which one, they were confused.  In any case, from what I have seen of the traffic situation in Chicago, it is much better to take a train into and out of downtown than drive.

The course map

People were coming in at a regular pace and some had managed to raise over $800.  For anyone above $100, I was telling them that they had “earned” a shirt.  One lady came with her husband and upon checking, I saw that she had raised $215.  I gave her a ticket for the shirt and when she asked if her husband could get one, I checked and saw that he had not raised any money beyond his $15 registration fee.  I apologized and said that he hadn't raised enough to get a shirt and she said “That's because he is a loser”.  The way she said it made it seem like more of a matter-of-fact rather than a joke, but I just smiled sheepishly as they went away.  I asked Ansar if he noticed a flaw in the system regarding the t-shirt.  I said that there were multiple people at the registration booth and what was preventing someone from going to different people and collecting coupons for the t-shirt?  Everyone had a similar list like me and they could cross reference, find the name and give the person a coupon.  Ansar said that he saw the problem, but we had to trust the people to be honest and do the right thing.  He was right.  If people were here this morning, it was to support the cause, not for a t-shirt. 

Ansar left for another appointment at 10 am, but it was also the time when the course opened and nothing much was happening at that time anyways.  Now here is the main difference when you volunteer for an organization that does not run as structured an event as Chicago Cares.  Seeing that nothing was happening, the leaders like Adam, Mary Kate and Tessa should have come and checked on volunteers to see if they were doing okay and needed anything or even relieved.  But they probably lack leadership experience and were content in chatting amongst themselves.  This does not necessarily mean they are rude; just need to develop their leadership skills.  Leadership is not about having a title, it is all about character.  Many people mistake the quantity of people you manage for importance, when it’s the quality of your leadership.  And it could be while leading one person, or even none!  You lead by example, and I am afraid I did not see much leadership in that tent.  Having said that, I have seen Adam in action while at the ACS office and he is a genuinely nice person who has the right attitude to be involved in a program like this. 

 

Festivities around us

Finally, seeing that no one was coming to our tent, I was allowed to go check-out the festivities that were happening around us.  Besides the usual stage with live music, there were food tents, corporate tents – with better food - and a survivor tent as well.  I saw two little girls and they had several items on display like survivor ribbons, wristbands, cards and even crowns.  They saw me looking and waved at me enthusiastically to come there.  I went and was asked if I wanted something and to my surprise, it was free, the idea being to promote and celebrate.  This really puts the t-shirt thing in perspective.  This however did not stop one of the little girls from making her own pins using paper and sharpie and was trying to sell them for a dollar.  Her mom was trying to tell her this was not the right way to do it and that everything was free, but the girl did not seem convinced, saying it was her own idea.  Definitely someone that ‘Business Week’ should keep an eye on as a promising entrepreneur.  

I walked about a bit more and finally came back to the tent to check if there we any other duties.  The event was underway, so there really wasn't much for us and Adam made the announcement that some of us could leave, though they wanted a few to stay behind to collect post-walk donations.  Typically, I would have volunteered; but I preferred to be on my way to the next event and so left.  It had been an interesting morning and while some things could have been a bit different, the main takeaway for me was seeing all the people come out to support ACS and for that reason alone, they all deserve to be applauded - even if they had not received a t-shirt.  

Help Friends Of The Parks At Their Annual Parks Ball

Location: Galleria Marchetti

Date: Friday, April 26, 2013; 5:45-10:45 pm

The opportunity description for this One Brick event advertised it as being part of ‘National Volunteer Week’.  I did not know that, neither had I any idea what it meant.  It was a beautiful evening and I walked over the location, even stopping at one point to admire the view.  I arrived to alongside Gary, a Super volunteer with One Brick, who always rides his cycle to projects, even when he’s wearing a suit.  In fact he was not the only one in suit, so was Wilson, looking as sharp as I have seen him.  He introduced me some of the other volunteers, including Kinga, Laura and Emily.  Also present was a gentleman, whom I shall not name, but more on him later.  Kinga, who was the Event Manager, started assigning people tasks and I was appointed to be the greeter, or in layman’s terms, the doorman.  I however, did have the best in business as my compatriot, since Wilson joined me. 

Silent Auction items

Unlike my previous experience with door, where I had stood inside and away from the freezing cold, it really was pleasant this evening and so Wilson and I took up our posts outside, not before I had taken a look at the place we were at.  Galleria Marchetti is a fantastic choice to hold private parties and events.  The interior look like it has been inspired by Italian designs and the entire place comes across as a classy venue.  Wilson and I took up our positions on either side of the two doors and practiced our welcome greetings.  I was going to stick with either, “Good Evening” or “Welcome” or even “Thank You for coming”.  But Wilson suggested we throw in, “Welcome to Friends Of The Park” to ensure that the visitors were indeed at the right location.  This was to prevent people like a young woman, who came looking for a rehearsal dinner and thought that this was the venue for it. 

We spend a long time outside and had opportunity to chat about many things, our favorite projects, Red Cross etc.  I told Wilson one of my favorite projects was ‘Paint The Town Red’ at ‘Pat Crowley House’.  Wilson asked me if I had noticed that the residents are always making things and cards to give away to someone.  When I said yes, he said that the reason was because they rely on others for help and get so much, that this is their way of showing appreciation.  Hearing this has made me more determined to attend this project as much as I can.  Wilson said that he needs a bigger car to accommodate all of his project's related stuff and having seen it, he isn't kidding.  I said he should look for an SUV or a minivan and was laughing aloud when Wilson’s response was that he should get for himself a trailer, which he would detach when not required.  The problem is that Wilson always believes in being prepared and so would never detach that trailer, even if he were going to the Opera!  Speaking of which, people attending tonight’s event were certainly dressed for an elegant night out and at times, I even complimented some of the women on their shoes and accessories – something they appreciated a lot.  At one point I saw a familiar figure, one of my old colleagues who has gone on to bigger and better things.  I pointed it out, saying that while he was attending the event in style, I was opening the doors for him.  The evening was progressing well and the guests kept coming.  From our spot, which was next to the kitchen, we could smell what was cooking and it seemed delicious.  Not one to never have an opinion, Wilson identified it as Rosemary and Thyme Chicken, something confirmed by the chef.  Well, we can add this to Wilson’s skill set now.  We had been outside for over an hour and felt it was time to go in when we saw a guy who had been headed to a bar at the beginning of our shift, come back and still find us there.  But before we headed in, I asked Wilson how long he had been volunteering and without a moment’s hesitation, Wilson put his arm out to indicate the height of a little boy.

The dining area

The next task that Kinga gave us was to be spotters for live auction as well as for collecting donations. Just as the food for the volunteers was brought in, we were asked to go to the main dining area in order to do this task.  The dining for guests was in a giant tent which had been decorated to resemble a ballroom.  As the auction began, our job was to keep an eye on the bidders to check if anyone raised their bid card.  If so, we were to point, so that the Auctioneer could focus on them as he continued.  He was going really fast and one of the volunteers Emily said that in her opinion he wasn't that good.  Wilson said that he was after all working for free and we should appreciate that.  I couldn't tell a good Auctioneer from a bad one to save my life and thus was more interested in the prizes.  There was a White Sox package which included luxury seats for 20 people and another which was a vacation for two to an exclusive mansion in California, airfare and everything else.  I said that if I could afford it, I would love to bid on that and Wilson said that he would choose the White Sox one since he can make 20 people happy.  I disagreed saying I would much rather do that with a couple rather than 20 sports fans.  One of the reasons I enjoy doing projects with Wilson is because we often get into such discussions and more often than not respectfully disagree with each other.  For example, one of the things I firmly believe in is chipping away at something in order to effect a long-term change, something that may take years, but one constantly works at it.  Wilson on the other hand wants to do something for the present, something that helps right now.  I think both points of view are valid and it’s more enjoyable to discuss this with someone like Wilson, rather than a person who goes on the defensive during a debate. 

The auction was soon over and neither Wilson, nor I had bid on anything, not that we would have been allowed to!  Our next task was to note down the names of people who wanted to make donations.  The Master of Ceremonies was asking people for help and whoever raised their bid number, we were to go to them and take down their details.  I was fortunate enough to do that with 3 people, though there was in interesting incident which followed that.  I was on my way to submit the paperwork, when one of the ladies at a table asked me to take away a bottle of wine.  After I did so, she called me back and asked me to get her another.  Then she asked me to get ice for her husband.  Wilson was watching this with great amusement and said that since she had just donated $1,000, I better do whatever she wanted.  Actually, many people had done a great job in supporting the cause.  According to the One Brick project description, “The Parks Ball honors those in Chicago who have supported Friends of the Park's mission. Support of the Parks Ball will enable FOTP to take steps to implement The Last Four Miles Plan by acquiring 100 acres of land for a new lakefront park.”  According to their website, FOTP is Chicago’s only citywide parks advocacy group, with a mission to preserve, protect and improve Chicago’s parks and forest preserves in Cook County. 

Even the flowers were auctioned off!

The dinner festivities were over and now the dancing was about to commence.  I came out to get some pizza before they took it away and chatted with my fellow volunteer, Laura.  She is working towards her doctorate, writing a thesis on ‘Childhood Obesity’.  I am often fascinated by people’s research and discussed with her causes for obesity; asking her about various reasons, ranging from genetic to psychological to behavioral.  We talked about my thesis and graduate school, as well the various places we had lived in.  I told her that I would be very interested in reading about her work and wished her well.  Soon she was called for her next task, which was closing out the sale for people who had won something in auction, while I was going to be helping with packaging the winning items.  Before I could do that, one gentleman came and asked if we could call him a cab.  I did so using my phone and it took some explaining to the operator that while I did not know where the gentleman was headed, this was not a prank call.  In any case, his cab arrived and I escorted him and his wife to the cab and for a moment he considered tipping me, but I wished him goodnight and came back. 

At the beginning of this evening, when I met all of my fellow volunteers, there was a gentleman, whom I shall not name over here.  While there was enough work for all of us this evening, he had not done a single thing to help us out, preferring instead to spend his time talking to all of the women.  Even towards the end, we were packing stuff and could have used an additional pair of hands, but he refused to budge.  Instead it was Wilson and I doing everything, including carrying things to people’s car.  Later, as Wilson dropped me home, I told him how disappointed I was in this person.  Wilson said that this is what he always does, but there is nothing we can do to change that and it’s up to the Event Manager to ensure that everyone is pulling their weight.  He said that at the end of the day, all of us are volunteers and by definition it means we are not obliged to help.  I strongly disagree with this line of thinking, for I feel that representing the clients is a privilege and even though we are volunteers, we owe them our full commitment while on a project.  Of all people, Wilson is a symbol of how volunteers should behave, though he is too modest – or rather oblivious – to admit.  He was off to work at an all-night shelter, before dong two projects tomorrow, including one at 9 am.  When does the man ever sleep?  Why am I still asking these questions?

Game Night At The Pomeroy

Location: The Pomeroy

Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013; 6:15-8:00 pm

My only visit to this place had resulted in me getting smoked in ‘Uno’ while listening to the National Anthem.  Although the timing had been pushed back by 15 minutes, I still arrived a couple of minutes late.  This place had one of the more impressive lobby entrances and requires one to present a picture ID to get in.  Post those formalities; I entered the activities room to meet our Volunteer leader Lily, as well as some other volunteers, Paul and Jayne.  We were waiting for the residents to join us and after a bit of an uncomfortable silence, we started chatting about Chicago Cares and what had brought us together this evening.  Jayne had been volunteering with New York Cares – the program on which Chicago Cares is based - and since moving to Chicago, had been exploring new things to do.  I was interested in hearing more about the NY Cares, especially since NY is a huge place and each borough is like a city in itself, meaning volunteers would probably have to stick to their area.  Even Wilson would not be able to cover that entire region.  Oh who am I kidding, of course he would!

Jigsaw with Kittens

The reason we were able to talk was because there were no residents.  I walked around the room and saw that the games had been laid out and everything was ready to go.  We had a selection of games, ranging from cards, Uno, Dominoes and even a Jigsaw Puzzle where you had to assemble a picture of kittens!  Finally, a resident came in and sat down by a table which had some crossword puzzle books.  I went over and introduced myself and he said that his name was Roger.  I asked if he enjoyed crosswords, and while it wasn't something that he did regularly, we took a look inside and gave up immediately, when we could not answer the first clue which was “A Chili Brand”.  I asked if he was up for playing Uno and he said that he was.  Since there was nobody else in the room, all of us sat down for a round of Uno. 

Jayne had not played Uno in a while and my understanding of the game was still fresh from the previous time.  I gave her a few pointers and then we started playing.  As usual, my luck wasn't holding up and even a newcomer like Jayne was giving me a hard time, albeit without the singing.  Soon we had one other resident come in and Paul and Lily went to play Dominoes with her, leaving me with Jayne and Roger.  I asked him how long he had been at Pomeroy and he said a few years, though he had been on the waiting list for almost 12 years.  He went on tell us that he was born in Chicago, but had been living in Memphis for a long time.  I asked what took him to Memphis and he said lack of jobs over here.  He said that he has an associate degree in Engineering, but fell short of the GPA required for a Bachelor’s degree.  Speaking of jobs, Jayne mentioned how age has now become a hurdle for jobs and how older people are being phased out, a point that was fully endorsed by Roger.  I said why older, nowadays companies are hiring people straight out of school to keep the costs down; even folk like me are not safe.  The talk of jobs, or lack thereof, usually results in a discussion on outsourcing – a topic on which I have said a few things.  Roger did have some interesting comments on Unions though, not being a big fan and called for their downsizing.  We could have talked about jobs till the end of the evening, but decided on move on to much pleasant topics such as food, particularly food from Memphis – the one thing the place is known for, according to Roger.

Central Park: One of my favorite places

Roger asked me where I was from and I said Mumbai, India.  He said, “You mean Bombay, don’t you”? and I was pleasantly surprised that he knew about that.  Jayne said that she had traveled in India and talked about visiting places like Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.  We discussed some of the tourist attractions and I asked her about living in Chicago vs. New York City.  We agreed that Chicago is definitely better and she said the streets appeared cleaner as well.  This prompted me to ask one of my favorite questions regarding the two cities and I asked her what the one main difference was between streets of NY and Chicago.  I am amazed that nobody ever guesses this correctly and when I mentioned that it was the lack of street vendors in Chicago, both of them said it should have been obvious.  As much as I enjoy this aspect of Chicago, I must say that a street vendor does sound nice late at night, after you have been out in NYC!  I told Jayne that I do appreciate that NYC has Central Park, to which she said that Chicago has its own Lincoln Park.  I countered by saying that the charm of Central Park was being surrounded by the city on all four sides, a sight that always amazes me.  Jayne asked me about living in Chicago and how I liked it.  I said that I missed driving and some of the challenges in not having a car, particularly going for projects that are a bit outside downtown.  I said that I was getting a bit tired of this cold weather and wouldn't mind living for 6 months in San Diego and coming back to Chicago for summer.  Jayne said that she actually loves winter and would do the exact opposite of me.  I have mentioned this 6-month shift to several people and Jayne was the first one to pick this cycle.  Oh well, everyone has their likes. 

Throughout this conversation, our game was going on and Paul had rejoined us.  My record of not winning was unblemished and though I came close, Jane kept playing spoilsport, though she was very apologetic about penalizing me.  Soon the time was up and I mentioned to Roger that I had enjoyed our conversation and he said that hopefully I would be back.  I said I absolutely would and left.  In terms of attendance, tonight was not spectacular, with the volunteers outnumbering the residents.  Often I have heard arguments that such programs do not make sense and Chicago Cares should focus on those which need us the most.  Now, I am a scientist by training and was taught to read data and draw my conclusions based off that.  If I was to strictly follow those guidelines, the critics are right.  But who’s to say Roger’s need is any lesser than others who attend these programs en masse?  Numbers do not always tell the story, and certainly not in this case.  So what if we had just a couple of participants?  I am certain we had made a difference in their evening and that’s all that matters. 

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

Read-With-Me At AIC

Location: American Indian Center

Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2013; 6:00-7:00 pm

The sign that I had become a Chicago Cares veteran was exhibited this evening when I showed up for a project without signing up.  Plus it was Wilson’s project, which meant he would let me in.  I soon regretted my decision when I got caught in rain and was totally drenched when I arrived at the AIC.  Irina was attending this one and we were led to a big auditorium, where Wilson had assembled with other volunteers and the kids were playing catch with a giant beach ball.  I recognized Anesha, her sister Idelle, Pia and a new girl, Alisha.  Amongst the other volunteers was Tash whom I had met before.  I joined the kids’ game, but soon Wilson called us all to order and it was time for introductions.  

The table with Chicago map

For ice breaker Wilson asked us to name our birthday and our favorite healthy food.  Now, this was a great idea since kids should be encouraged to eat healthy, but I was going to struggle to come up with something.  A lot of the kids said tomatoes as their favorite food, including Irina, who claimed that she has had food containing a tomato each day of her adult life.  When my turn came, I said my favorite healthy food was chocolate - hey, there as a lot of health bars with chocolate.  At least I had a better answer than Wilson, who said that his favorite healthy food was bacon!

We moved upstairs to our usual meeting place and gathered around the main table, which has the painting of Chicagoland from the turn of last century, with all the Indian reservation land on it.  Wilson said that we should play a spelling game where each of us would get a bunch of cards and could ask the others to spell words that were on them.  This was quite entertaining and useful, since it taught the kids the value of breaking down a word phonetically and the spelling it.  Alisha’s Aunt was in our group and she claimed that Alisha could spell at a 5^th grade level.  She was quite good and was in fact the person to give me my word to spell – “Trolley”.  I managed to navigate that and then it was my turn to give someone else a word.  I chose Anesha and asked her to spell “Star”.  She was able to do that as well as all the other words that came her way.  In fact, all the kids did extremely well at spelling and since we were running out of time, we moved to the arts component of the evening’s agenda. 

The flower pots

The kids had started painting pots the previous week and we were going to be planting flower seeds in those.  Wilson also had some plain pots for the rest of us to paint if we so wished.  Irina and some of the other volunteers started painting, quite competitively I must say, while I started working with the kids.  Anesha had her pot ready to go and so we put some soil in it and lots of wildflower seeds.  Then we covered with soil and finally, watered the pot and kept it aside.  I repeated the process with other kids, fluctuating between some of the other seeds and even plant bulbs.  After we had all the pots filled and watered, Wilson moved them next to the window, where they would reside under sunlight and we were expected to see results in a few days to weeks. 

And mine

In the meanwhile, the volunteers were really focused on painting their pots and Wilson insisted that I paint one as well.  He brought me one with a while coating and I painted a yellow smiley face on it, complete with a tongue!  I went to wash up and it was interesting to see the art in the bathroom, depicting Native American culture and images.  On my way back I encountered Pia who saw that I was clean, and proceeded to put paint on my hands, so that I would have to wash up again.  She enjoyed that one and went and told everybody that she had made me go to the bathroom again in order to clean.  Aah kids!   This reminded me of scenes from a long time ago, when I used to be in school and such things were customary.  Before leaving I asked Wilson about his work at the Red Cross shelter, with the recent floods.  He told me about the 27 hour shift on Saturday and how he had to stay for more time because no came to take it down and so he had to do that.  We discussed some upcoming projects and I left to go back in the rain.  This was my first ‘gatecrashing’ with Chicago Cares and based on the fun that I had, it may not be the last; especially if it’s one of Wilson’s projects.  

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

Bingo Fun At Britton Budd

Location: Britton/Budd Apartments

Date: Monday, April 22, 2013; 6:15 -7:30 pm

This is one of the more pleasant venues that I had been to for Bingo.  The residents were just so…nice.  I had promised myself that I would return thought it had taken me a longer time to do so.  I walked into the wonderful building that hosts this event and went over to the activities room to check-in with Veronica, our Volunteer leader.  I looked around to see the goodies that she had as prizes, and there was a wide selection ranging from the usual lotions and soaps, to a wonderful summer tote bag and sewing kit.  She had also brought some things specifically for men, such as socks and a frosted beer mug.  Nobody was going to go back disappointed. 

Look at that beer mug!

I made my way to a table and joined two ladies including Elvina, whom I had met during my previous visit.  The second lady introduced herself as Tanya.  She asked me about the origin of my name and I replied that only thing I know is that it’s Indian.  Tanya spoke with an accent and I asked her where she was from and she said Poland.  I asked if she was from a big city and she said yes, though not as big as Chicago.  I said that I was, though I preferred it over here – the weather notwithstanding.  This led to all three of us complaining about the cold wind in April and I said that I was quite done with it. Tanya mentioned that the weekend was expected to be nice and Elvina said that finally they could go outdoors soon.  I told them that I liked coming here because of the building, the location and the people.  Both, Tanya and Elvina agreed about the location, saying that the proximity to the lake made it ideal. 

In the meanwhile the game had commenced, not that it was doing either of us any good.  But as mentioned previously, the residents here are keener on socializing than competing, and so we were chatting quite a bit.  I learned that Elvina and Tanya were ‘workout buddies’.  This was another rare thing, to find residents who actually did something outside of group activities.  In fact, Tanya was helping Elvina with her Bingo board, making sure she got all the numbers.  After having seen some of the other Bingo games that get quite competitive, this was extremely refreshing.  As other people started winning prizes, they were taking the usual things like tissue paper and other household items.  I asked Elvina if she had a favorite number and she said it was 8 since February 8^th was her birthday.  Every time the number 8 was called, I would look at Elvina and she would nod.  Very soon something unexpected happened – Elvina actually won.  As soon as I saw that she had her Bingo, I almost yelled out in triumph.  I told her to choose the prize wisely Elvina picked a hand sanitizer.  There were still a lot of prizes on the table and we had a long way to go.

I Won!

I have participated in Bingo at several places and in many of those locations; I do not play myself, preferring instead to help the residents.   But even when I have played, I have never won.  That was until tonight.  I noticed that I was indeed getting close and lo and behold, I had Bingo.  I subtly pushed my card towards Tanya and asked her to call out.  She asked if I was sure and when I said yes, she announced her Bingo numbers and went and chose a ‘Word Search’ book.  “Something for the mind”, she said and I couldn't argue against that.  If that was a first for me, something else, which had never happened before took place – Veronica asked me if I would like to call the game.  In fact she had been giving all other volunteers and opportunity to do so, and I was going to be closing out tonight’s session.  I got up and told Tanya and Elvina, “Prepare to Win!” 

As I started calling, I noticed that some of the numbers on the balls were worn and I had to really look closely at it.  When someone yelled Bingo, I would say “Prove it”, a phrase I have heard someone else say at another Bingo game.  One gets to watch the people when you are calling and you can notice interesting characteristics.  For instance, one of the ladies had an interesting ritual when I would call 66, as if she was brushing away ‘Nargles’.  During one game, I was pulling out only even numbers, which led to one guy saying I should also call some odd ones.  I told him that nature loves symmetry and so there was nothing wrong with even numbers, at which he laughed.  In the meanwhile, prizes were flying off the table, but no one was taking the beautiful tote bag or the beer mug.  One lady even took the men’s socks before these items.  One of the resident’s, Joe, had his eye on the beer mug and when there were just 2 prizes left, I looked at him and said that the mug was for him.  He said no, it was for his best friend, and flexed his arm, making a motion of drinking.  I suspect he would make for an excellent companion in a bar. 

Very soon, a resident called Bingo and took the beer mug, leaving the bag as the final prize.  I looked at Joe, who shrugged his shoulders.  I said that the bag may be magical and perhaps he could reach inside and get whatever he wants.  Joe enjoyed that joke and laughed a lot.  But alas, it was not to be.  Elvina won the final game and took the bag.  I had done a decent job of calling the game and shook hands with Joe before he left.  I told him that next time we should have real beer instead of playing for a mug; a motion that he seconded immediately.  I told Veronica before leaving that this was truly the best Bingo program through Chicago Cares.  The residents even ask each other's permission before picking a gift.  Really, who does that?  If they are not careful, they may even run the risk of being called friends!

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

Sunday Paper Hour

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Sunday, April 21, 2013; 2:00-3:30 pm

Saturday’s two projects had packed a punch and I was quite beat this Sunday morning.  A nice relaxing ‘Sunday Paper Hour’ sounded like a perfect way to spend an afternoon.  I arrived at Lakeview Nursing to see that Mary was already there.  She is the only Volunteer leader that I know who makes name tags for the volunteers.  Typically volunteers have to write down their names themselves, but Mary does it for everyone and there’s something elegant about that style of leadership.  I saw that Joe was watching his beloved Sox play and we chatted for a brief while.  Mary told me to pick a table and go join a resident.  It was time to read the papers.

With events in Boston over the past week, all the front pages were full of that story.  I looked around and saw that Valerie, with whom I had sat the last time, was engrossed in her Walgreens pamphlet, no doubt looking for deals.  I went and took a seat next to Josie, who has been a participant in some of the projects, including ‘Get Crafty’.  Like Valerie, Josie was studying the Walgreens pamphlet as well.  We talked about the prices in Walgreens versus those in CVS.  In fact, there was a CVS insert, and we compared some of the products and found that CVS was cheaper than Walgreens.  Josie said that there were a lot many Walgreens in Chicago as compared to CVS and I mentioned that this must be the reason for CVS to lower prices, since they had to stay competitive. 

The best part of a Sunday newspaper

A lady had come to our table and was standing next to me, listening.  I asked if she would like to join us and she was more than willing.  She introduced herself as Jill, and said that she had been there for 2 weeks and was leaving tomorrow. It didn't appear that Jill was interested in reading any newspapers and was just there to chat, and so that’s what we did.  I learned that Jill had a 28 year old son, who was going to come pick her up the next day.  She said that her husband had passed away long time ago, as had one of her other son's who had been 38 years old. I asked what had happened to him and she said that he had suffered from liver cancer and while they had known for over a year, they could not get a transplant on time.  While losing her son was tragic, this was just plain sad that a young man such as him was not eligible for a timely transplant.  I remembered a conversation that I had a few months ago with someone, debating the merits of being an organ donor versus leaving your body for science.  I had argued a case for being a donor because that directly impacted people’s lives, while the other person had made a point that so would the medical study, because it would teach the next generation of medical practitioners, doctors and researchers who would go on to save people and conquer disease.  I couldn't complain with that line of thinking either, though based on what had happened to her son, there was no question on whose side Jill would have been. 

I asked Jill why she was here and she said that she had been struggling with depression.  She had spent some time in a hospital, but had felt that a place such as this would be much healthier for her.  I told her that she was correct, and there were indeed a lot many things that the residents could do here.  Jill knew about that and was in fact an active participant in a weekend ‘Bingo’ program.  She mentioned proudly that she had already accumulated $15 in Bingo currency, something that I am beginning to realize is a valuable commodity over here.  I told her about the Chicago Cares programs there and she seemed particularly interested in ‘Pet Therapy’.  Jill has always had dogs, 4 so far, and the most recent one had been a German Rottweiler named Otto.  Unfortunately, he had passed away while she was in the hospital.  Her son, knowing Jill’s love for dogs, had got for her a 6 month Fox Terrier.  She said that she hadn't seen him and was looking forward to doing that the next day.  I said to her that the new dog would be a great companion and she agreed.  She said that one of her favorite activities is spending time with her neighbor and walking in the park and was looking forward to taking her new dog with her. 

I also learned that she had been married at 20 and for two years had worked as an assistant in an office, and had done so in the days of the Dictaphone.  Then she had quit in order to raise her 3 boys, the youngest of who was picking her up the next day.  She was proud of him and mentioned that he would be getting married soon.  I congratulated her and asked about his fiancée.  Jill said she was good, but drank a bit too much.  I said that they were young and we should cut them some slack, at which she reluctantly agreed.  I asked about her other daughter-in-law, who was now bereaved and also had a son; if she was looking to get remarried.  Jill said probably not.  She said that she herself hadn't found anyone after her husband had passed, and that it was difficult to find someone after all this time together with one person.  I said that it was difficult even without having had a spouse who had gone, and both of us talked about the importance of companionship.  Jill asked about my job and what I would do if I didn't have to work.   I said that I would be a writer, something that she approved. 

All this while I was talking with Jill, Josie was in her own world, though she seemed to be listening.  I also noticed one of the staff members from Lakeview Nursing had been standing there, watching our group and I asked her to join us.  She introduced herself as Sandy, and was a new activities person there.  She did all the programs that involved residents getting out of their rooms, and just this morning had been doing nails for the women residents, including Jill. Sandy told us about one of her other volunteer project, ‘Feed My Hungry Children’, out in the suburbs.  I asked her about it and learned that they pack boxes of food for children in developing countries and all it costs us is $0.22 to feed them daily.  Sandy seemed like a nice person and I learned that her care-giving extended beyond this place and she owned 3 dogs and 3 cats.  She told us, much to our amusement, that she takes her cats out for a walk in a stroller.  Now that is a sight I would definitely want to see!

 

That's a lot of islands!

Sandy, who mom is from Philippines, told us about the place and how it is comprised of  over 7,100 islands.  I said that surely someone must have made it a mission to go to all of them.  She said they had better hurry since Philippines and China were arguing over an island and she wasn't sure how that was going to end up.  The funny thing is that the island in question is very small and can hardly fit one house!  Since we were talking about Philippines, the topic turned to Imelda and her shoes museum.  Sandy said that, while it wasn't as many, she owned several pairs as well and blamed it on her Philippine ancestry. 

By this time we had been joined by Fran and I told her than Jill was very interested in dogs, Fran being an occasional leader for ‘Pet Therapy’.  Fran told us that once someone had brought a parrot for the program - so much for Wilson’s idea to be the first to introduce exotic animals to Lakeview Nursing.  Mary indicated that it was about time for us to leave and I told Jill that she had to come back to participate in some of the programs, though she said that she prefers programs in daylight, because she did not want to travel at night.  This was perfectly all right and kudos to her for at least making that effort.  As we left that day, Mary mentioned that one of our fellow volunteers had been one of the founders of Chicago Cares and I was disappointed not to have said hello and introduced myself. But it had still been another excellent afternoon of conversation, one where I had lost track of time and also not opened even a page of the newspaper in front of me.  But hey, who’s complaining. Jill's stories were much better than anything the reporters had to say.

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

Deal at Marillac and St. Vincent's Associate Board Annual House of Cards

Location: Floating World Gallery

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2013; 5:00-11:00 pm

Throughout the course of these journals, I have reported being lost several times and have also assumed responsibility for many of those missteps.  However, I refuse to do so on this occasion.  Here I was, all cleaned up after this morning’s project and dressed in jacket and tie.  I followed the directions on my phone and was actually congratulating myself for being a bit early.  But when I reached the exact position where the dot on my phone’s map was asking me to be, it was the wrong location.  I had followed the directions on my phone and they were wrong.  I searched for the name of the facility we were supposed to be at, and it was more than a mile away.  This meant I was going to be late and I called Wilson to let him know what had happened.  Mind you, the directions provided to us were correct; it was just that the map on my phone had a mind of its own.  I let lose a tirade on the phone regarding the maps and Wilson just told me not to worry and take my time getting there.  While I couldn't find a cab, I did hop on a bus, and arrived at the gallery 15 minutes late and fond all the volunteers – including Wilson in a suit - gathered around a Roulette table. 

The good wheel

This was one of the rare occasions where One Brick had two events running simultaneously.  I had almost signed up to help out at the annual fundraiser for St. Michael’s Church, but Wilson convinced me to come to this one instead.  Our task was to assist St. Vincent de Paul in its ‘3^rd Annual House Of Cards’ program.  According to the One Brick website, “St. Vincent de Paul Center is an 89 year old social service agency, serving the needs of Chicago's poorest through a childcare program, homeless outreach and at-risk senior service care.  Located in Lincoln Park, St. Vincent's is one of Illinois' largest single-site nonprofit childcare programs.  The St. Vincent de Paul's Child Care program is committed to provide a loving and caring environment that will enable a child to grow physically, socially, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.”  Besides this, according to the organizations webpage, “The Center provides outreach, assistance and case management for more than 100 low-income, isolated and mobility-limited Chicago seniors.  he program offers services to homeless individuals and those in danger of becoming homeless through preventive measures, provides basic needs items and services to clients, and connects clients with programs and services, such as housing and job training that will improve their situations.”  Tonight they were raising money through organizing a casino night and One Brick volunteers were going to function as dealers.  We were just one group of volunteers that evening, but taking a look around, I realized that we were the most in need of training.  That’s what was happening right now.

I had never played Roulette before.  The only experience that I have as far as gambling is concerned is an occasional poker game back in grad school.  Even then, we had not really played for money, as much as bragging rights.  I paid attention to the instructions that were being provided, and as good as the gentleman was in explaining the rules, I was struggling to keep up with the various betting scenarios.  He answered all of our questions patiently and then moved on to the craps table.  Our Event Manager, Amy – whom I had met at a One Brick CFE event, asked if Wilson and I could manage the Roulette that evening and we said yes, well Wilson said so and I just nodded.  We had approximately 30 minutes to practice and become expert dealers.

What followed was me getting familiarized with the various bets and payouts as well as one of the most important skills of Roulette, spinning the wheel in one direction, while releasing the ball opposite to the spin.  During the spin process, the dealer uses their judgment to call out “No more bets”, at which point the players stop betting and the dealer has the right to reject late bets.  Wilson and I role played, where we switched between being a dealer and a player.  Another challenge was learning the denomination of the chips and what each color meant.  Plus, there were two types of chips: there were ones for betting, while the others had actual denomination and were to be exchanged for cash.  We decided that Wilson would be the ‘banker’ responsible for settling the bets whereas I would spin the wheel.

Our table at the back

We were admiring the beautiful wood trimmed Roulette wheel, when we were told that our table was actually at the back of the facility, this one being reserved for another group of volunteers.  So that’s what we did and as we went to our station, it was apparent that this table had probably being salvaged from a scrap yard and was falling to pieces.  No, really it was.  I spun the wheel and that send one of the dividers between the numbers flying off at great speed into the direction of the bar and it was fortunate that both, the girls managing the bar as well as the bottles and glassware made it without any damage.  We recovered the piece and reported this to the man who had trained us.  He told us to do our best and try avoiding touching that piece.  It looked like Wilson and I were stuck with this table.

Soon the people started arriving.  Some needed explanation on how the betting worked, while many already knew.  As the games progressed, both Wilson and I because quite good at it and were soon not referring to the cheat sheet.  The speed of the game was amazing and I was surprised at how quickly I had picked it up.  I was diligent in calling “No more bets” and on a few occasions, refused to accept bets placed after the announcement.  Furthermore, I was insisting that no one place any new bets till I lifted up the marker signifying previous rounds number – and I enforced this often.  Wilson kept joking that I was taking this too seriously, but I was now in character.  For the next 4 hours, both of us worked non-stop, without any break and hardly broke a sweat.  It was by far the most fun I have had and at one point I was dealing with 8 beautiful women surrounding me.  Wilson took a picture, saying that only with One Brick is something like this possible.  Aah, the man knows me too well.

The house always wins!

We saw all sorts of people, from serious gamblers, to those who were just having fun, to some high rollers.  One guy rushed in and just as I was about to close the betting, placed a black ‘50K’ chip on a color…and won!  One guy kept betting on red while one couple kept betting against each other. Many were superstitious about the color of their betting chips. Towards the end of the evening we started getting some heavy rollers and I suspect the open bar had something to do with it.  But no matter what, the old saying is absolutely true.  For all those who have visions of going to Vegas and then retiring, let me tell you something that I observed first hand.  Okay, here we go – “The house always wins”.  By the end of the evening, we had cleaned up and almost everyone left after losing all of their chips.  But that was not the main reason why they were there.  Win or lose, people had a great time.  Towards the end, one girl lost all her chips, but was overjoyed when I let her spin the wheel.  It’s amazing how small things like these make some people happy.  And Wilson, nothing delighted him more than handing chips to winning people.  It shows the person that he is, happiest when giving.  I asked about the floods and he said the things were bad in the suburbs.  In fact he was headed to a shelter after this and was going to be up all night, having slept only 4 hours over the last 27.  He may not be getting any rest, but because he is out there, the rest of us can sleep easily.  

Lincoln Park Conservatory

Location: Lincoln Park Conservatory

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2013; 9:00 am-12:00 pm

In was a terrific Saturday morning as I set off for the Lincoln Conservatory.  I had been to Lincoln Park several times, but never to the Conservatory.  I arrived early and stood admiring the city view from the lawn, waiting for the doors to open.  It seemed like a perfect day to be working on a nature project, my first such endeavor through Chicago Cares.  By the end of this one, not only was I the most exhausted that I have ever been after a Chicago Cares project, I was covered in mud from head to toe and would need to shower again and throw out my shoes.  Oh joy!

Sunrise over the conservatory

Exactly at 9 am they started letting us in and I joined the other volunteers inside.  Besides our Volunteer leader Dave, there was another Dave, who also leads this project at times.  There were three other volunteers, including a lady Linda.  Both Dave’s have been helping out in the conservatory for over 6 years and are quite familiar with the place as well as the staff.  One of them, Jen, would be guiding us this morning.  After dropping off our stuff in her office, she took us for our first task, which was plucking flowers stems of a species of plants.  The plant blooms only for a few weeks in the year and now the time had passed.  In order to prepare for the cycle the following year, we needed to clean up the plant by removing flower stems and rendering it totally bare.  Some of the flowers had already fallen off, while some were shriveled.  But some were still in glorious bloom and it was a shame that we would have to take them off.  But Jen knew more about this than us and so that’s what we did.  Although the plant was quite dense to work with, this task wasn't exactly ‘Repotting the Mandrakes’.  It still involved a lot of plucking and moving around the plant.  Dave was playing the radio to keep us entertained, and while I prefer chatting with my fellow volunteers, this was by and large a very quiet group.

The plant before plucking

It took me over an hour to finish plucking my plant and was looking to move to another one.  In the meanwhile the other Dave and Linda had been called for another project and he had come asking if anyone could join them and help.  I raised my hand and what followed was the most uncomfortable session of my Chicago Cares career.  The project was digging the bed in Orchid garden.  I went and saw that Dave had a shovel in hand and looked exhausted.  There were several problems, one of which was a stone ledge, and the bed which we had to dig was between this ledge and the wall, making it an awkward angle.  Furthermore, the soil was wet and sticky and not very easy to remove.  While Dave was digging and scooping into a bucket, Linda would have to scrape off the wet soil sticking to the shovel – which was not as easy as it sounds.  The buckets, which filled up quite fast, then had to be taken to a hopper and emptied by lifting them up almost shoulder high – again, not a very comfortable task.  This is what I had gotten myself into. 

And after

I asked Dave to take a break and took the shovel.  Within 10 seconds I realized what a monumental mistake that was for all parties.  Dave and Linda were guiding me on how I could use my leg to push the shovel into the ground and scoop out the mud. The stickiness was making that very difficult and try as I may, I was not getting enough out of the ground.  While Dave was filling up the bucket in 4-5 scoops, I would be requiring more than 10.  Linda suggested that I step inside the ditch in order to get a better angle and when I did that, I immediately sunk my shoes in the soft soil.  It was apparent to both, Dave and Linda that I was struggling and Dave said that he was ready to come back in.  However he had been doing this for a long time and clearly needed a break.  The temperature inside the orchid garden was higher than outside and that did not help either.  This was back breaking work and I was out of breath quite frequently.  After some time I came out and Dave resumed the digging, while I did a bit of scraping and emptying of the buckets.  After a couple more shifts, where my contribution was a minimum, Jen said that it was enough and we were ready to fill the ditch with bark.  Having never been around gardens and yards while growing up, I had no idea what “filling a ditch with bark” meant, but I was ecstatic to hear that we were done digging. 

Jen said that the bags of bark were in the basement and so Dave and I headed there.  Now, the entrance and the stairs leading to the basement were exactly the type one finds in scary movies.  We made our way down and found some big bags which we hauled on to a shopping cart. Next job was getting the cart to the top level and for that we were going to employ an elevator that was truly from the dark ages.  You pressed a button - that looked like one of those emergency red buttons - to summon the elevator, and the doors opened only after some lights stopped flashing.  Then we had to load the cart and send the elevator back up.  Once at the top, we hoped that the cart had made it and to our delight, and mild surprise, it had.  But the smile was wiped out when Jen said that we had brought the wrong bark and so we had to repeat the entire process of sending down the elevator, going down to the basement, unloading and loading new bags and then sending up the elevator. 

The bed filled with bark

We took the bags of bark to our ditch and then using a saw which Dave had found somewhere, tore opened the bags and spread the bark in the ditch.  We required all of the bark that we had picked up from the basement and soon we were done.  With the bark in there the ditch it looked…fantastic.  My back was hurting, hands were blistered and I was covered in mud, but it was a great sight to see a job well done.  I took the bus back, knowing that I would have to put all my clothes in the laundry basket and take another shower before my next project, which was a jacket and tie affair.  This had been my first environmental project and I wasn't sure if it was my thing.  I was glad to have had this experience, but I really enjoy the projects with human interaction and this wasn't one of them.

No praise can be too high for Dave and Linda, who had done infinitely more hard work than me.  But it wasn’t just that, Linda had never once abandoned her great spirit.  She was encouraging me a lot and Dave was fantastic as well.  He had toiled away while the other Dave, who was the leader on the project, had been plucking flowers.  I am not ready to draw conclusions based on just one data point, but a leader always leads by example and as far as I was concerned, only one of the Dave’s had exhibited that today.  He told me that he was a primary leader for Serve-A-Thon and based on what I had seen of him, we are lucky to have him represent us that day. Yes, I did learn a lot today.  I had learned that sometimes beautiful plants need to be destroyed in order to keep them alive.  I had learned that an ordinary thing like bark can make something extraordinary.  And I had learned that Pirates really do need to work hard to bury their treasure.

Celebrate Victory at Esperanza Annual Fundraiser!

Location: Union League Club of Chicago

Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013; 5:45-10:15 pm

One of the bigger advantages of volunteering with One Brick is that you get to work at an occasional gala and rub shoulders with men and women wearing suits and cocktail dresses.  This was first of the few such events that One Brick would be doing over the coming weeks.  We were required to dress in black from head to toe and since I was going to be coming straight from work, my colleagues must have thought that I was protesting something.  It was drizzling outside and I was delayed at my office due to a deliverable.  Furthermore, I could not find a cab and so I arrived at the event site not only a bit late, but was also wet. 

Wilson was supposed to be the Event Coordinator for this project, but due to floods that were ravaging the Chicago suburbs; he was detained with the Red Cross, managing shelters for hundreds of displaced people.  I saw a mass of black, which could only mean One Brick volunteers and there were a few familiar faces, including Irina.  Our Event Manager, Kinga, assembled us all in an elegant boardroom. Then Stephanie, an Esperanza employee, gave us our assignments.  For my first task, Irina, another volunteer Dave, and I would be helping out at the Art sale.  There were over a hundred pieces of art on display and our job was to carry a clipboard and mingle with the guests in that section. If anyone was interested in buying a piece, we were to note their name, their ‘bidder number’ and then put down a red dot next to the art piece to signify its sale.  Seemed easy enough, but this was no ordinary art collection.  Every piece had been made by a member of the Esperanza community. 

The art of Esperanza

According to the description on One Brick website, “Esperanza Community Services has been serving children and adults with developmental disabilities since 1969. They inspire and empower participants by providing individualized therapeutic, educational, and artistic services. Their bi-lingual programming includes a school, an adult vocational program, two supervised residential homes, and client and family support services.”  This program was started when a mother decided to create the academic and developmental services that were not available to her disabled son anywhere else.  The organization aims to support the participants and allow them to reach their full potential, so that they can live as independently as possible.  This art collection was a step in that direction. 

I was impressed by some of the art on display and strongly contemplated buying a piece for my own apartment.  But my main job was to sell and I chatted with the guests, all of whom were extremely friendly.  Many people asked me for advice on which one to choose.  One lady took me to a couple that she liked and I asked her some questions regarding her décor and tastes and then made a recommendation – not that I knew too much about that.  A gentleman came with his daughter and she picked one.  He made the purchase and then after a few minutes, they both came back because they had changed their mind.  They switched their purchase and then he decided to buy both, which worked for me.  One lady said that she was on a fixed budget, but still wanted to support the artists.  In fact I heard from many how much they admired the artist’s and some were even buying since they had purchased the artist's previous piece and liked their work.  The red dots were flying from my clipboard and at the end of the session; I had managed to sell 24 pieces of art.  Many of the artists were in attendance and it was nice to see their reaction to people appreciating their work.  It had been a worthwhile activity.

The art bagged - almost

The guests left for dinner and live auction, but we still had some work to do to sort out the art sales, as well as the silent auction that had been going on in parallel.  Stephanie wanted us to make invoices for all the purchases and started by asking who had good handwriting.  I immediately disqualified myself and instead started removing the purchased art from the wall and bagging it. Once bagged, Stephanie wanted us to place the bags on the floor alphabetically.  The problem was that most of the art pieces, as well as silent auction ones, were much bigger than the bags and would not fit.  This meant that they would have to be placed on top of the bag, but it would be difficult for the guests to carry these at the end of the evening.  We tried mentioning this, but Stephanie was not having much dialogue and was very controlling about the entire process.  I texted Wilson to express my displeasure on her behavior and his response was to cut Stephanie some slack since she was under a lot of stress.  Well, we managed to finish this task and then it was time for dinner. 

I was immensely surprised to see that the dinner for us was the exact same that the guests were enjoying in the grand ballroom upstairs.  The 3 courses were presented to us, artistically, in the conference room and I must credit the organizers for doing that.  After dinner I went up to the registration area to act as a runner for auction items.  There was some problem with the process and it led to a huge backlog and a bunch of unhappy guests.  All the Esperanza organizers, including Stephanie were having a tough time and dealing with some unpleasant people, including a couple who embarrassed themselves by carrying their drinks to the check-out and causing a rowdy scene by misbehaving with the volunteers as well as amongst themselves.  I did my best by carrying whatever receipts came my way, including things which did not fit in the bags and which made the guests unhappy.  All in all, it was not an ideal place to be in and seeing that we were almost an hour over our scheduled time, Kinga called it a night for us all. 

The One Brick crew at Esperanza

I had work to do that night and was more than happy to depart.  Plus, I was very disappointed with the overall treatment of the volunteers and had a thing or two to say about that.  But Wilson, even from miles away had been right.  It was not Stephanie’s or anyone else’s fault for all the problems.  Like us, they were trying their best.  On occasion, during these projects you will encounter some difficulties.  It doesn't all have to be good, as long as you see the bright spots.  The old adage is that, “When life gives you lemons make lemonade.”  Now, you don’t always have to do that.  For sometimes all lemons need to do, is make for a great garnish on a cocktail.