Breakfast At Center Church

Location: Hartford, Connecticut

Date: Saturday, December 28, 2013; 7:45-10:15 am

As is my custom over Christmas, I would be visiting my friends in Connecticut.  This year I had made a deal with a friend in Chicago, wherein we would each volunteer at the place we were travelling to. I looked at the 'Hands On Hartford' website – a similar organization as Chicago Cares – but couldn’t find anything on it for the weekend that I would be there.  So I called them and while they did not have a program for the day I wanted, they directed me to Center Church and said that I could volunteer directly with them, while giving me a contact number.  I called them and spoke with Rebecca, the volunteer coordinator for the church, and she said that they could definitely use my help at their Saturday breakfast for the homeless.  This would be my first foray into volunteering outside of Chicago.

Center Church Hartford

The first problem was getting there since unlike Chicago, Harford and neighboring townships are not well known for their public transportation.  Fortunately for me my buddy was able to lend me his car and while everyone else in the household slept that Saturday morning, with GPS in hand, I drove to downtown Hartford and found the place where I was supposed to be.  I was looking for the entrance, when I saw a lady walking in through a small doorway.  I told her that I was there to volunteer and she introduced herself as Laura, a fellow volunteer for this mornings project.  I went inside and met with Rebecca, who directed me to the kitchen where some folks had already started working.  Although Rebecca was the volunteer coordinator, the lady in charge was Enid.  She is the Church’s site representative and has a no nonsense approach to everything.  She was ensuring everyone was on point and doing their tasks. 

My butter

Laura asked me to cut the butter/margarine/vegetable oil sticks into small slices and arrange them on  plates so that we could serve the guests a piece each.  She had given me several packs and when I asked how many I should cut, she said all of it!  I started opening the packs and each of them had 4 sticks, which I decided to cut into 8 pieces each.  I washed my hands, put on gloves, grabbed a knife and got down to it.  Around me were 4 middle-aged couples, including Laura and her husband, and all of them seemed to know each other.  One of the gentlemen approached me and introduced himself as Gary.  When I told him my name, he had some difficulty in getting it right, but was determined enough and said that we should get re-introduced each time we crossed paths.  I said that there was a trick to asking someone his or her name when you had forgotten.  Sometimes people may get offended when asked again and if you sense that as they repeat their name, say, “Oh, I meant your last name”.  Gary enjoyed that a lot and I knew we were going to get along well.  I was cutting a lot of butter and the plates were getting full, following which I would transfer them to the refrigerator and continue with another one.  Elsewhere other components of the breakfast were being assembled, such as boiled eggs, sausages, pancakes, oatmeal and coffee.  Besides the 4 couples, one teenage girl had come with her guardian to volunteer, along with another young man.  I heard Enid say to him that he was on “bathroom duty”, and initially I though it meant cleaning, but it turned out to be something totally different, something more disturbing and important. 

Most of the butter had been cut and so I went outside and saw Gary guarding the door to the kitchen and the serving area.  The guests had started assembling in the dining room and his job was to prevent them from walking in before the food had been arranged for serving.  He told me that there was a guard at the bathroom door since some of the people outside were pedophiles and have escorted young kids into the bathroom.  This was unheard of in all the places that I have volunteered in and I told him that.  But the fact that they needed to take precautions here meant that it had happened before. He talked about how some men haven't found "Christ", and then corrected to say "faith".  I said that I had no problems with the terminology, but knew what he was saying.  Wow, I’m glad Keith doesn’t have to deal with this at ‘Wells Street Café’.  We chatted about my job and he was particularly interested in Solar Energy and I was telling him about my experiences, when they announced that we were ready to serve. 

I was to be one of the servers and took my place in the assembly line.  Unlike places where runners would deliver the food at the table, over here the guests would come in with their numbers and start at one end with pancake and syrup, followed by the boiled egg and sausage, then tangerine, a bagel, the sliced butter, oatmeal and finally a small candy.  My task was to hand out the bagel and butter and why not - after all I had cut it!  People started coming in and I started plating depending with gloved hands.  There were three types of bagels – raisin, plain and whole grain.  Unless people asked for a specific type, I was randomly selecting and plating.  And some were specific in what they wanted, like a lady who wanted the butter put in her oatmeal in a specific way.  As far as the butter was concerned, I had done my best to be consistent, but not all of the pieces were symmetric and some were a bit thicker than the others.  When one gentleman got a bigger piece from me, he beamed from ear to ear and said; “Now that’s what I’m talking about”. 

Part of the assembly line

The line was moving fast and I thought that we would be done soon and have lot of food left over.  However I learned that the dining room couldn’t hold everyone and so some people were still waiting outside for the second seating.  Knowing that more were to come I got the remaining packs of butter from the refrigerator and started cutting them as well, while serving the new group that was coming in.  On projects like these I am usually amazed at some of the people that I meet, and who despite their hardships have a very good attitude towards everything.  One such gentleman was in a wheelchair and needed help in getting his food to the table.  When I helped him he was very thankful, as were several other folks.  One kid thanked us for food and asked if we had a spare bus ticket to anywhere, saying that he had been stuck in Hartford for two days.  Despite all this time and things I have seen and experienced, I always get reminded that for some people basic things in life are a monumental challenge.

The dining area

We had to make some more oatmeal and I suggested that we add butter in our preparation and which was news to Laura.  I said that butter makes everything better and convinced her to incorporate two big cubes in it.  Despite all my efforts to get rid of it, we were still left with two huge plates of butter after all the guests had been served.  Laura packaged in trays and said that she would take it to her church.  All of the 4 couples were from a congregation and one couple was engaged in playful banter throughout the morning, and which livened things up for us. I wish I have that kind of relationship with someone when at their age. We gave away the remaining bagels to a woman with kids and then it was time to clean my plates, take a group picture and leave.  Enid thanked us all and asked for suggestions. Almost everyone said that we should try fit more tables or seats so that people should be spared waiting in the cold outside. I thanked everyone, including Rebecca for the opportunity.  It was her last day as well, meaning that I was lucky that she was able to get me in.  Gary said that it had been a pleasure serving with me, though the pleasure had been all mine.  I had volunteered in Hartford because of a promise to a friend and because I wanted to do something over this holiday break.  In doing so I had met some of the loveliest people that I have had the privilege of working with.  I hope I get to return someday and serve with them again.  A little over a year ago I was struggling to meet good people that I could relate to.  Now, I find them on every street.

Zoo Lights Festival!

Location: Lincoln Park Zoo

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2013; 4:45-9:00 pm

Spread over 35 acres along Chicago’s Lakefront, Lincoln Park Zoo is over a hundred years old and for every day during that period it has remained open and free to the public.  Every holiday season all the trees, other plant life and in general the entire zoo comes alive after dark with the annual ‘Zoo Lights Festival’.  I had attended it the previous year and had been thoroughly impressed with what I had seen.  Little did I know that One Brick helps out through ‘Arts & Crafts’ activities for kids, who are amongst the thousands of visitors that the zoo gets each year for this festival.  I had done a project at the zoo earlier in the year, pouring beer at ‘Living Social Craft Beer Festival’.  Today, I would be the EC to Wilson’s EM and thankfully no alcohol or intoxicated people would be involved.

Since we had some time to spare between the ‘Chicago Cares Caroling’ program and the start of this one, we spent the afternoon roaming around the ‘Lincoln Park Conservatory & Zoo’.  Looking at the displays and the general maintenance of the place and the animals, I found it amazing that the place was free.  The Conservatory had exhibits of holiday train models running routes around the plants and as far as I am concerned, the world cannot have enough train models – an absolute delight to watch at any age.  We were to be stationed at the Zoo’s ‘Primate House’ and arrived there around 4:30 to wait for our volunteers.  Besides One Brick, Wilson had recruited from Meetup and so we were expecting a big turnout.  As the volunteers started filtering in, I looked around us and we were surrounded by the Primates cages.  It was certainly the most exotic locations that I had ever done a project in.  It definitely made for a fantastic experience, though the ambient lighting could have been brighter. 

Scratch-off ornaments

The site rep told us that we would be managing 2 stations this evening, one making Antlers, which would be located at the center of the ‘Primates House’ and other for decorating scratch-off Christmas tree ornaments, which would be located near the entrance.  We had plenty of volunteers and we split them in two groups to manage both the locations.  The group with the scratch-off ornaments had different shapes like Santa, sleigh, Christmas tree, snowflakes, and various animals like monkey, big cats, etc.  There were pointed objects that looked like pens and which kids could use to expose the bright colors on the cards and make their designs.  There were strings to form loops and the hang on trees as ornaments.  The Antlers were already pre-cut and the kids would be using the thousands of stickers that we had to decorate them and then tie flexible string around it and put on their head.  There were more number of volunteers there, including Maureen who leads the ‘Young Scientists’ project at McCormick Elementary School.  In fact her entire family was here, including her sister and her sister’s baby that had been delivered in a car!

The crowds started coming in thick and fast and both of the stations started getting busy.  As the EC, my job was to walk between both tables and ensure that the volunteers got what they wanted.  A new volunteer who called himself Mr. Jeff had been recruited through Wilson’s meetup and asked how he could help.  He appeared to be a good-natured person and so I put him at the entrance to greet the people coming in and direct them to the first table.  He was fantastic and sold the heck out of our programs by getting people excited.  His energy was terrific and he spent the entire evening on his feet cheering the visitors.  At the scratch-off table was a lady who I thought was with us.  When I couldn’t locate her on the sign-up sheet, Wilson told me that she was a General visitor who had special needs and had enjoyed the previous days activities to such an extent that she had returned and wanted to participate today as well.  She was harmless and having a great time, so we were please to have her there. 

And the Antlers

Wilson had portable speakers that I connected to my phone to play some Holiday music near the scratch-off station.  While it did create the mood, most of the kids and their parents were totally engrossed in the activity.  The beauty of the 'Arts & Crafts' activities is that while the kids are making their own creations, the volunteers get involved and do their own projects.  Today was no exception and I saw several folks scratching off their own cards and making some beautiful designs.  The antlers group was doing the same and I joined in to make some antlers and put on top of my Santa’s cap that I had been wearing since the morning.  We were really busy and our volunteers were working non-stop.  I kept asking folks if they needed to take a break and almost everyone said no since they were having a great time.  When someone at the scratch-off table did go for a break, I took over and worked with a little girl who came and made a cat like creature.  She was concentrating hard and I asked if she was going to name the cat.  She thought about it for a moment and said “Maybe”.  I was making a snowman and she seemed interested in that, giving me suggestions on what additions to make.  Once I was done, I gave it to her and she seemed pleased.  Aah, another satisfied customer! 

It wasn’t just the kids who were having fun, two young couples came and started scratching off the designs and by looks of things, were engaged in some sort of unspoken competition with each other, with me egging them on!  I went to check on the antlers group and realized that one of the volunteers was a professional chef.  Wilson and I were going to be leading the cooking project at ‘Ronald McDonalds House’ soon and so spent some time discussing the potential menu with him.  He brainstormed with us and even gave us his ‘Restaurant Depot’ card to use   I love multi-tasking, for it looked like we had a solid plan for that project…and had managed to secure discounted groceries. 

It was beautiful outside

It was getting close to the end and we started cleaning up.  Our volunteers had performed exceptionally well under the onslaught of the traffic, not least Mr. Jeff who had been a trooper.  As we prepared to leave, we saw the lady with special needs still by the table, working on some project. Wilson went over and asked if she required a ride and she said that someone was going to pick her up.  It was raining outside, but the zoo lights were spectacular and we got to admire them as we walked towards the exit.  Some of us went out to eat and Mr. Jeff had us in splits with his stories.  I have a feeling that I am going to run into him quite frequently.  Wilson dropped me home after what had been a long, but wonderful day.  It had started with the Caroling group and ended amongst the brilliant zoo lights.  For me there were two lasting memories from the day.  First were the residents of ‘Lakeview Nursing’ who had responded to our singing in a way that I had least expected. Second was the special needs lady who had spent the entire evening at our table working on the scratch-off cards.  It was meant to be a program of the kids, but had mattered most to someone else; showing that we should never take the impact of anything for granted.  Today were my last projects of 2013 for both, Chicago Cares and One Brick.   In fact, I had finished 3^rd in the number of hours that I had put on for One Brick Chicago this year.  And what a year it had been.  One that I will never forget. 

Chicago Cares Goes Caroling

Location: Flannery Apartments, Margaret Blake Apartments and Lakeview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2013; 9:30 am-12:00 pm

I love Christmas.  I just do.  It’s everything about the holiday – the lights, the trees, the crowd in the malls, the snow, the families & friends getting together, the presents…everything.  Most of all, I love Christmas because anytime you turn on the radio or go into a retail establishment, you hear the Christmas Carols and know that it is indeed the season to be jolly.  One of my lasting memories is of exploring a small book shop in Hartford, Connecticut years ago, with ‘12 Days of Christmas’ playing in the background, followed by ‘Frosty The Snowman’, ‘Jingle Bells’ and variety of other carols.  As much as I dislike winter, Christmas makes it all bearable and I for one am always waiting for it, no matter the freezing cold following that.  Plus, it is the only time of the year when I am actually looking forward to the crowded places.  There's something to be said about people coming out in numbers and shopping for their loved ones, not to forget the little kids waiting in line to see Santa Claus.  It is that time of the year when the young and the old truly believe and when wishes come true.  I love Christmas.  So when I saw that Chicago Cares was doing a caroling project on a Saturday, I was one of the first to sign up.

Aah Christmas

Now let me make it clear that I have absolutely no talent for singing.  I am not being modest; I cannot hold a tune to save my life.  But, I was hoping that the rest of the team would cover for me and we would get by.  Wilson was co-leading this with Alisa and he had sent a detailed itinerary the previous day, with all the stops and timings.  We would be gathering at DePaul University, Student Union building and then getting on a bus to visit 3 locations – ‘Flannery Apartments’, ‘Margaret Blake Apartments’ and ‘Lakeview Nursing’.  The next day the trains were running late and I was worried about making it to the meeting point on time.  So I texted Wilson and told him that I would proceed directly to the first stop and meet the group over there.  I arrived at ‘Flannery Apartments’ and went to the activities room where we used to meet for the now cancelled, ‘Arts & Eats’ projects.  Chicago Cares also had a breakfast project over there this morning and I saw that those volunteers were preparing the room for that.  The caroling crew wasn’t there yet, so I helped out the breakfast team by rolling knives, spoons and forks in tissue paper.  The guests started filtering in just as my troupe arrived.

Everyone in the group was wearing a variety of Santa, Elf or other festive headgear and I was feeling out of place.  Wilson gave me a Santa cap and armed with a book of carols, we spread out in the dining room.  Alisa started by asking if there were any requests and we were pleased to see that many guests actually had carols that they wanted us to perform.  For the next 20 minutes, we performed variety of carols with a lot of enthusiasm, not least Alisa who was fantastic in getting the crowd excited.  The residents appreciated our performance and we left them to enjoy their breakfast.  On the bus to our next destination, we practiced a couple of the carols on which we had trouble harmonizing the tune, such as ‘Feliz Navidad’ and ‘Silent Night’.  Well, if we were going to do this, the least we could do was try and be almost perfect.  Our next stop was ‘Margaret Blake Apartments’ and they had a breakfast club in progress as well.  We had to get temporary passes to get through the security, but once inside we followed the same process as earlier, which was to spread out all over the room and take requests.  I was standing next to a resident who loved this and wanted to participate in the singing.  I positioned my carol’s book so that she could refer to it as well and for the reminder of our session, she joined us…and was quite good as well.

Arts & Crafts project was on at 'Lakeview Nursing'

After another round of acknowledgements from the residents, we departed for our final destination; my usually haunt – ‘Lakeview Nursing’.  On the bus we discussed our favorite Chicago Cares projects and I said that while I liked Alisa’s ‘Get Crafty’, mine was ‘Paint The Town Red’, without question.  We arrived at ‘Lakeview Nursing’ and saw that the 1^st floor  activities room had been decorated for the holidays and an 'Arts & Crafts' project was underway.  We were going to be visiting all three floors and so started at the top.  The residents on 3^rd floor have the least mobility and are confined to wheelchairs.  Furthermore, despite the festive decorations, they all seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, hardly noticing our arrival.  We started performing and then a strange thing happened.  We saw some of the residents actually responding.  One resident was trying to mouth the words, while I saw another trying to move his immobile fingers like a pianist.  The rest of him appeared to be disconnected, but the fingers were moving.  It was amazing to see this kind of response and while we could have stayed there for a long time, we had to keep moving after a few songs.  Honestly, this was the best therapy any one of them would receive today. 

On the 2^nd floor I spotted my friend Emma and as our group started performing, I noticed that she was mouthing the words.  I joined her and like the earlier location, put my book down in front of her so that we could sing in unison.  It was fantastic and we did a few songs together till it was time to leave.  I wished her ‘Happy Holidays’ and we moved on to the 1^st floor.  I spotted several of the residents that I knew and I went stood next to Jim as we performed a few songs.  Then I noticed my buddy Elmer sitting with a Chicago Cares volunteer and I went over to say hello.  I asked him to join us in singing and show everyone how it was done, at which Elmer told the volunteer that I had once “made him work like a rented mule”.  Boy, he does love reminding me about that.  I said that I don’t know about working like a rented mule, but I was sure hoping to get him to sing.  And it wasn’t just me that Elmer was engaged in a banter with, he was doing the same with the volunteer.  She asked him what he was getting her for Christmas and he said socks.  As we started singing “Walking In Winter Wonderland”, he looked at the volunteer and said, “Not in those shoes, you won’t”.  He was having a blast with his usual brand of humor and I was in splits.  He is fantastic if one wants their spirits raised.

We had finished our set and before leaving I wished Elmer and Jim the best for the holidays.  It had without question been one of the best projects of the year for me, and back on the bus I said that I was changing my vote for my favorite Chicago Cares project to this one.  I mentioned how the residents had responded to our singing and I am convinced that Chicago Cares requires a ‘Music Therapy’ program.  Based on what I had seen today, I am certain that even a small step in that direction would help.  I told Alisa and Wilson that next year we should add more locations, but the bus rental is prohibitive.  Perhaps the volunteers who attend the regular programs could get together and perform for the seniors as a part of that project.  Point is that there are several options and it would be a pity if we do nothing.  It was sad but satisfying to see the residents respond to our music. They may be suffering from old age and dementia, but the part of their mind that associates music with memories was still active.  Lets use that to help them…and in doing so spread some cheer.  Man, I do love Christmas. 

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

Letters To Santa

Location: United States Postal Service

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2013; 12:00-1:00 pm

“Some nights the sky wept stars that quickly floated and disappeared into the darkness before our wishes could meet them.”

-          Ishmael Beah

I remember Christmas mornings as a kid.  It was the most exciting day for me…more so than my birthday.  The reason was presents.  I mean, I got presents for birthdays, but Christmas presents were always waiting for me, right when I woke up.  We never had a Christmas tree, but my parents used to put my present on my bed, or sometimes under the pillow.  The first thing I did upon waking was find the present, open it up and immediately make a wish for what I wanted for the next year.  Yeah, I was like that.  Years went by and wishes to Santa became less frequent, till they just stopped.  That was until I discovered Macy’s ‘Believe’ program.  Last year I saw how much wishes to Santa matter to people.  How much people want to believe, and it certainly made a believer out of me.  As I searched to find more about the program, I came across something else, something even bigger, something that has been a tradition for over 100 years.  The ‘United States Postal Services’ ‘Letters To Santa’ program. 

The letters

The website which has the heading, “Delivering the Holidays, Delivering Dreams”, goes on to say, “Although USPS began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than 101 years ago, its involvement was made official in 1912 when Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized postal employees and citizens to respond to the letters.  Today, the popular holiday program is known nationwide as Letters to Santa. The exception is New York City, where the city’s own “Operation Santa,” the largest in the country, responds to more than 500,000 letters each year. Thousands of volunteers work with Post Offices to respond to letters from children of all ages listing their holiday wishes.”  The letters usually come addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole, Alaska”, though they typicvally remain in the area where they were mailed.  People who want to “adopt” these letters can go to a Post Office, select one or more letters to take with them, and then try to fulfill the wishes of the child with a gift.  They can then bring the gift back to the same Post Office, pay the postage for the package, and then hand over to the postal employee who will mail it to the family who had sent the letter.  For obvious reasons, the child’s address is blacked out on the letter. 

For the boy

The Chicago location was at the main Post Office and I took a trip there over lunch.  It is an impressive building, and I felt as if I was entering an historical landmark rather than a Post Office.  I went up the escalator and on my right saw a long table with stacks upon stacks of letters.  They were separated by number of kids per family, gender etc.  I looked around and spotted some other people already going through the letters.  I picked up a bunch from both; boys and girls stack and sat down at a table to read.  Most of the letters were written either by the child or from their perspective, but all of them were wishes that one would make to Santa.  I avoided requests for clothes, because well…I have difficulty selecting clothes for myself, let alone for kids!  I also passed on requests for some of the fancier presents such as ‘PlayStation’.  I ended up selecting letters from a 4 year old boy and a 2 month old girl.  Both had requested for toys and that was something I could handle.

For the girl

The next day I went to ‘Target’, which was fast becoming a go-to place for such activities.  It is where I had picked up presents for my airport visits with ‘Make-A-Wish’ as well as a recent shopping spree for a ‘Night Ministry’ “stocking stuffers” program for toddlers.  The boy’s letter had mentioned that he liked cars and so I picked up some ‘Matchbox’ car’s collection, with construction vehicles – boys are obsessed with those – and police cars.  For the girl I did a combination of a doll, a bib, rattle toy etc. and quickly realized that one can easily get carried away with all the choices for infants.  I got some holiday boxes and after packing the toys in them, returned back to the main Post Office.  I handed the boxes, along with postage, to the lady managing the letters and she thanked me for participating in the program.  I said it was they who were doing a noble job as were the several other people going through the letters.  It was obvious that not everyone’s wishes were going to be answered…not even close.  And while that was a real shame, there would also be children who would receive something from Santa this Christmas.  For even if one person gets their wish granted, I would consider this program a success.  Based on the number of people I saw participating, it was going to be a wonderful holiday for many and I was most certainly glad to have had an opportunity to participate.  Who knew that 'USPS' would also join the ranks of the numerous heroes that I have encountered through this.

Holiday Party At Pat Crowley

Location: H.O.M.E. – Pat Crowley House

Date: Sunday, December 08, 2013; 2:30-7:00 pm

Without a question, Pat Crowley House is my favorite location and its residents are the ones I feel closest to.  So with the holidays coming up I mentioned to Wilson that we should throw them a party.  He worked with their housing manager to arrange a date where we would be following the scheduled ‘Paint The Town Red’ project on Sunday afternoon and continuing on with dinner.  Besides Wilson, I invited some of the regulars like Amanda, Noel and Irina.  Once the date and the guest list had been finalized, next task was deciding on the menu.  I was thinking of getting the dinner catered, but Wilson said that what the residents really enjoy is Chinese take-out from a nearby place.  Well, so much for a low-sodium diet!

The presents

There is no holiday party without presents and since there were 9 residents, I decided to do a goody bag for each of them.  Wilson warned me that the residents can get jealous of each other’s presents and so whatever I did, I had to ensure that each bag was similar to the other.  Else, he said, “they will fight like children”.  On Saturday evening I went shopping and after a few stops, had managed to get napkins, red ‘holiday-themed’ mugs, hand & body lotion and fluffy socks. I put all of these inside bags, leaving space for something Wilson wanted to put in – a ‘head massager’.  I had a feeling that the residents would like their presents…and while there was a small difference in the prints on the mugs, I assumed they would not fight over it.

It was snowing when Wilson picked me up in the afternoon.  We then went over to get Irina and finally Noel and her boyfriend Daniel.  Noel leads ‘Paint The Town Red’ project and so would be busy with that while we prepared for the party.  We arrived at Pat Crowley and while she led a origami project, Wilson and I sat in one room that looked like an office and ordered enough food to feed an army.  I went back outside to join the rest of the group and they were busy at work, making holiday cards and other paper-based objects.  I remembered making something back in the school and when I did that, Noel called it a ‘Cootie Catcher’.  I had never known what it was called, just how to make it.  The residents consider Wilson one of their own and had made a card for him.  I met Meredith, someone who I had never seen before, and she gave me a hug to wish me for the holidays.  I don’t know about the presents that we were going to give them, but I had certainly received my gift for the season.

Annabelle's sketch

I chatted with Annabelle, who showed us a picture that she had drawn a long time ago and had framed it.  Cynthia was making a Christmas wreath using green and red pipe cleaners and had to stop since she had run out of supplies.  Wilson, Irina and I then went to get food and also picked up Amanda on the way.  We came back and then arranged the three dining tables in the room into holiday style family setting.  All the residents came down and for the first time since I have been coming here, I saw all 9 residents together in one place.  I sat next to my buddy Andrew, and like everyone else, he was enjoying the food and the conversation.  After dinner we handed everyone their goody bags and they liked it a lot, though I did spot Annabelle comparing her mug design with Cynthia.   Despite all the things in the bag that I had picked out, by far the biggest hit was Wilson’s ‘head massager’.  As he demonstrated on everyone, they loved it, especially Jane, who was in raptures of ecstasy.  Amanda had bought sugar-free treats to serve as desserts, and that was a perfect end to the meal.  After clearing everything I sat down with Andrew and as has often been the case through our conversations with him, it was bittersweet and poignant.

He started with his favorite topic, which are guns and he demonstrated how strong his hands still are by doing some clenching exercises.  I asked him what he wanted from Santa for the holidays and he said “A pretty woman for companionship”.  He always has a knack of saying things that leave you speechless and this was one of them.  He said that he had many regrets and wished that he had never existed.  I said that’s not fair because there were people like Dorothy who needed him.  His face lit up at the mention of her name and he said that she had sent him a present.  I asked him what it was and he said he was saving it to open on Christmas morning.  Now, how can anyone not cheer for someone like Andrew after listening to this?  The fact that he still has that child-like enthusiasm or that he cares so much so as to save it as a special gift is something everyone can appreciate.  He went on to say that Dorothy’s daughter had delivered the present and signed off by saying, “She is as pretty as her mother”.  Well, really...there’s nothing more to add to this.

The tree

It had been a wonderful holiday party and the residents had enjoyed it for sure.  The buzz at our dinner table was exactly what you would want at the holidays and it was great to see them get excited after receiving their presents.  Normally after an evening like this I leave in a terrific mood, but not this time.  Irina told me that I had done something good that day but I didn’t feel like it. Yeah, I had helped arrange a party to try and bring cheer but that had been easy.  All I had to do was throw down my credit card.  But no amount of money was going to help me fulfill an old man’s fondest wish.  Before we left Andrew had said, “If I had married the first girl I liked at 20, we would have been married for over 60 years.”  Over the next few days I thought about him a lot, especially when I read a quote by the legendary creator of ‘The Peanuts’.  I wondered at what point Andrew had accepted that he would be living with a broken heart.  And that’s why it is important for us to go visit someone like him.  To keep reminding him that it would have been an awful shame if he hadn’t existed.  Just ask ‘George Bailey’. 

“I don’t know why there’s so much unrequited love in my strip, I seem fascinated by unrequited love, if not obsessed by it…There’s something funny about unrequited love – I suppose it’s because we can all identify with it.  We’ve all been turned down by someone we love, and it’s probably the most bitter blow in life.”

Charles M. Schulz

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

Cards For Hospitalized Kids

Location: AEP Energy

Date: Thursday, December 05 and Friday, December 06 2013

I was fortunate at the beginning of my career to work in a Company where for most parts people liked each other.  It was a small start-up and all of us were working towards what is commonly known as the ‘noble cause’.  One of the proudest moments of my life was when our team broke the ‘world record’ for something…a project I had no involvement with.  But it felt special.  These were my friends.  It was our success.   And for as long as I shall live, I will never forget that moment.  Then I came to work for ‘AEP Energy’, a new environment, and a new team; and as much as I would want to recreate the situation from my earlier place, it is just not possible.  Sure, for a time there had been friends, but circumstances had led me seeking something more personal.  This had led to the discovery of ‘Chicago Cares’, ‘Make-A-Wish’ and ‘One Brick.’  That association has given me experiences that I had never imagined possible, and encouraged me to be more empathetic, patient and understanding. So when a call was issued for employees to volunteer to be on a ‘Culture Crew’, I was the first to sign-up.

The ‘Culture Crew’ was created to take the pulse of the staff, be their voice in front of the management, and implement programs to improve the culture of ‘AEP Energy’.  After a few meetings, the crew decided to form 3 sub-committees: ‘Service Projects’, ‘Social Development’ and ‘Internal Communications’.  With my background, I immediately joined the ‘Service Projects’ sub-committee and as a first task, we developed 3 proposals; one of which was to implement something for the upcoming holidays.  I suggested that we get everyone to do an Arts & Crafts project and make holiday cards.  Everyone on the crew loved the idea, and so did our sponsor on the Executive Management, as well as rest of the company.  So now that we knew that we were going to make these cards, the next question was who’s going to be receiving them.  We wanted to do cards for kids, and so decided to send them to a children’s hospital's like ‘Lurie’ or ‘Rush’.  We reached out to them and ‘Lurie’ said that while we could send them, they would put the cards in a bucket by the reception and people were welcome to pick them up.  This did not sound very appealing and it was then that we found ‘Cards For Hospitalized Kids’.

According to their website, “Cards for Hospitalized Kids (CFHK) is an internationally recognized charitable organization that spreads hope, joy & magic to hospitalized kids across America through uplifting, handmade cards.  Anyone can get involved with us, from anywhere. Individuals and groups across the United States, and world, donate time and creativity to make handmade cards and send them to us for distribution in hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses across the nation.  Over 40,000 kids in hospitals in all 50 states have received cards from us. We believe this is just the beginning.  We hope you will get involved and help us brighten the days of as many hospitalized kids as possible.”  Well, it seemed like a perfect fit for us and so we wrote to them expressing our interest.  They said that we were more than welcome to send cards, though we were told not to mention “Christmas” or “Santa” on the cards; I guess to respect religious sensitivities.  Now, I personally have a huge pet peeve with people who try to be overly “politically correct”.   I was not born a Christian, but my family always celebrated Christmas and ‘Santa Claus’ was very much a part of my childhood.  I mean come on.  It’s Santa.  Every kid knows him and it’s a shame that some people deny kids that joyous experience because they do not want to “offend” some communities.  Well, if this was their condition, we were fine with it.  At least the kids would get our cards. 

The supplies

We had been allocated a budget of $50 for supplies and I knew that we would blow through that in no time.  I offered to go pick up the supplies in ‘Michaels’, knowing that I would be spending out-of-pocket.  I have done Card projects at 'Lakeview Nursing' and other Arts & Crafts projects at 'Pat Crowley' before, and know all the wonderful possibilities with the right supplies.  So I went on a shopping spree and got card stock paper in different colors, multiple types of stickers, stamps, punches, different colored pens…everything one would need to make cards.  As I had suspected, I had gone way over budget and so at checkout asked for different receipts so that I could expense up to $50, but I suspected that I wouldn’t be doing even that.  Armed with all the supplies, I showed them to my colleagues and they were pleased and excited to get underway.  Besides these, we also had also gotten some donated supplies and it seemed more than enough.  Boy, were we to be proven wrong.

People thought about doing a competition between different departments, to see which department can make the most cards.  I am not a big fan of competitions, especially for something like this; and am an even lesser fan of departmental segregation.  In fact, when the ‘Culture Crew’ had been formed, people had introduced themselves stating which department they belonged to and I had said that I belong to ‘AEP Energy’.  I was once told that when we walk through the doors of our work place, we have but one loyalty and that is not to our individual departments, but to the business.  So when people said that we would keep buckets, one for each department to drop their cards inside, I decided to keep mine separately.  The cause was the main reason why we should be doing this. 

My 3 cards

We had decided to do this over two days and at two locations – Chicago and at our Columbus office.  Our team member in Columbus had procured supplies and they were going to do same schedule as us.  We had invited people to come in around noon, but many people had arranged their daily schedules to filter in throughout the day... and they came in droves.  When I went in, people were occupying all available spaces in the big conference room where we had laid out the supplies and churning out cards by the dozens.  Their creativity knew no bounds and most of the cards were just outstanding.  Furthermore, people were enjoying themselves and each other’s company.  Looks like we were succeeding in our mission on all fronts. I went about my day and when I returned in the evening, I learned that the production had increased even more in the afternoon and we had run out of supplies!  One of our team members had to go and get some more and I said that I would pick up some as well.  We had made 221 cards on Day 1, with 3 of them being my contributions.

I went to ‘Walgreens’ and ‘Dominicks’ that evening and another card store the next morning to get even more supplies.  And it was a good thing since many more people showed up on Day 2 and it while they weren't as many cards as Day 1, it still turned out to be a productive session and at the end of it all, we had managed to make 307 cards.  They were in all sizes and shapes and we arranged all of them on a table and took a picture.  We packaged them in a box and the next day I took it to a post office and shipped it to ‘Cards For Hospitalized Kids’.  Based on what we had accomplished, there were going to be lots of happy kids.  Holidays are a special time and hopefully these cards would bring them cheer; and based on some of the designs, they were sure to do so.  Plus, I was proud of my colleagues…all of them.  They had gone above and beyond to deliver these cards and had bonded as well.  A few months ago our company had done a ‘You Rock Week’ and other than the one issue that I had, it had been a terrific way for colleagues to appreciate each other.  These last couple of days had built upon that.  Yes we had announced a competition, but to me all of them had been winners.  I placed an order for 6-dozen donuts, because everyone who had made a card deserved to be recognized. I had thought that the cause should be the main reason to do this and while that was true, it has also been a great team building exercise.  To me this had been 2 of the best days of my career with the Company. 

All of the 307 cards

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, December 04, 2013; 5:45-9:00 pm

Wonder why they had this on display?

Besides death and taxes, one of the almost guarantees in life is Thomas from Chicago Cares asking me to lead this project.  Perhaps I should consider being a permanent leader for this one.  I got the sign-in sheet and as has been my custom, in the afternoon I sent a welcome email to everyone.  I walked over to the site and as I entered, I saw a table with ‘Mardi Gras’ paraphernalia on it; like masks etc.  This was a bit perplexing and I wondered if we were going to have New Orleans inspired cuisine this evening.  Keith was giving orders in the kitchen to some of the volunteers and he had forgotten my name again.  I said to him that its only been 10 months since I have been coming here, to which he responded that he remembers my face, just not my name.  Well, I guess that’s fair.

  

Although he wanted me to go help in the clothing room, I said that I had to wait for my volunteers and they arrived soon enough – Jenny, Alexia and Alexis.  I took them to the clothing room and then came back to see how I could help in the kitchen.  I joined Hannah, who is in 8^th grade and whom I have seen every single time I have come here.  Kudos to her for doing this, for when I was in 8^th grade; I had not even heard about volunteering, let alone participate in it.  She was on desserts and that’s one thing we had plenty of this evening.  Keith asked if I could work with her and so for the next several minutes we piled up the 21 plates with huge cake pieces, donuts, cookies and some other treats.  Even with our best efforts we were not even close to using up all of the cakes and so went over to put the rest in the walk-in refrigerator.  This posed another problem since there was no space and so we had to stuff the cakes wherever we could find a spot.  But I guess having a full refrigerator in a place like this is a good thing and I would much rather have to make space rather than walk into an empty one.

The salads were ready and the desserts had been plated, meaning we had some free time prior to service. The rest of the volunteers had returned back from the clothing room and I had an opportunity to chat with them, not just the Chicago Cares ones, but also those who were volunteering directly with LaSalle Street Church.  They were paying rapt attention as I told them about this place and it certainly appeared that they had identified me as one of the leaders.  Also present was Stephanie, who is a staff member at ‘Esperanza’, an organization I have volunteered for through One Brick.  We chatted about some of their events, just as Keith called everyone to attention.  It was time for his speech.

He started by reminding everyone about the philosophy of "giving, sharing, loving, caring" as well as "respect and dignity" – something that I have heard several times, but it never gets old.  Today he was picking on Hannah, often calling on her to provide these key words.  Marianne was missing and he said that she had fallen down the stairs and was in physical therapy.  This was a shame since I enjoy her company on these projects.  He said that he had received a text from her, where she had asked him to rely on a volunteer called Dana, and by the look on her face, this was news to Dana!  Keith assigned duties, and I would be starting off by serving juice, along with a new volunteer.  I told him how the guests would ask him for refills before we were done serving everyone and how he was to respectfully tell them that he would be back.  We went outside and saw a young man talking on the microphone about his challenging experiences in life, and how he was trying to turn it around by putting himself through school.  He then started the evening’s entertainment by singing along with another gentleman.

Tonight's main course

The food was brought out and on the menu tonight were chili, pasta and bread – definitely not New Orleans cuisine.  I went around serving juice and it was great to chat with some of the guests, including one gentleman who said that he was planning to behave himself tonight by being ‘G-Rated’!  We started serving food and like last time, I took up Marianne’s duty of pointing at tables which were to be served next, and all the volunteers took their cues from me. As usual, we were efficient and no sooner had we finished serving, than many had already lined up for seconds.  We finished that as well and then it was time for clean-up.  Once again, it pained me to throw away most of the salad and they really need to rethink this 21 table distribution.  A lot of food got thrown in garbage, including leftover bread – and lots of it.  At least the dessert cakes, which we had put out for seconds and people did not take with them, were returned to the refrigerator.

I was keeping an eye on my Chicago Cares volunteers and they were doing a terrific job.  I assigned one of them to the “exciting” task of collecting salt & pepper shakers, as well as the artificial flowers center pieces, while I took to stacking and moving the chairs.  I had never operated the trolley that is used to push the stack of 10 chairs and it was back-breaking work.  By the time we had finished clearing the floor, I was drenched in sweat and totally exhausted.  Even then, it had been a satisfying night and while I was tired, it made me proud to be considered a leader for this program, and someone who is a regular to be relied upon.

Helping Our Furry Friends

Location: PAWS

Date: Tuesday, December 03, 2013; 3:00-5:00 pm

When it comes to animal shelters in Chicago, ‘PAWS’ is one of the leading ones.  According to their website, “PAWS Chicago is the city's largest No Kill humane organization, focused on solutions to end the killing of homeless pets. Since our founding in 1997, homeless dogs and cats killed annually in the City of Chicago has dropped more than 50 percent. PAWS Chicago is working to build a No Kill Chicago -- a city where pets are no longer destroyed just because they are homeless.”  I had worked an event for them through One Brick, but not had an opportunity to volunteer directly with them.  One of my colleagues at the office is an avid pet lover and floated an idea of folks from our company taking an excursion to ‘PAWS’ for an afternoon of volunteering.  She asked how many of us would be interested and because it was during working hours, only got about 7 positive responses.  She then effectively took over the administrative process, which included signing waivers and contact information forms.  She also got us matching shirts to wear, and so this Tuesday afternoon, a group wearing matching attire boarded a CTA train to go to ‘PAWS’ for volunteering.  While we would be preparing some goody bags, there was a potential for actual interactions with the pets at the end.  Needless to say, we were all excited.  

Someone was spying on me

As we approached “PAWS’, I looked inside through the various windows overlooking the street and spotted several cats staring at me.  We went inside and the general décor of the center was very welcoming, with a fireplace and a holiday tree.  On either side were doors leading to corridors and were titled ‘Kitty City’ and ‘Dog Town’, respectively.  It was easy to infer that through those doors were sections where the animals were housed.  Our host was a woman called Jane, and she took us to a big conference room for our volunteer orientation presentation.  She herself is a volunteer with ‘PAWS’, having joined after her retirement.  The information in the video was to educate us about the organization.  We learned that ‘PAWS’ is one of the few “No-kill” shelters with state-of-the-art facilities, thanks to generous support from many.  The animal’s house in ‘PAWS’ are rescued from the ‘Animal Care & Control Society’ and hopefully they are adopted soon enough.  In fact, the statistics showed that the adoptions have been on the rise, with a 31% increase in recent times.  Many are also fostered for a few weeks, so that they get used to humans.  I asked if the people who foster end up adopting the same animal, and was told that this is referred to as “failed fostering”.  I said that by definition I would definitely end up being a failure for sure!

The dog cone

‘PAWS’ was having a 36-hour adoption event this weekend and needed some goody bags to be prepared for handing out to the visitors.  There were buckets and boxes of various materials such as pamphlets, and so we formed an assembly line to fill out the bags – similar to what I have done at numerous One Brick projects.  We worked smoothly and it was done in no time.  Next was assembly of some cones that pet owners put around dog’s necks to prevent them from scratching after a surgery or an injury.  It took some skill to roll them in the right way, but we were soon done with those as well.  Now, it was time to play. 

First we walked through ’Kitty City’, which was a luxurious accommodation for the cats, especially for a shelter.  There were several rooms with kitties and they had different toys and various pieces of furniture to entertain themselves with.  We were told that we could go inside to play with the kitties as long as we entered the room carefully and then closing the door as soon as we were inside.  Some of our team decided to wait here, while the rest of us proceeded to ‘Dog Town’.  There were 3 Levels of rooms, and we were allowed to enter only the Level 1 rooms, not Level’s 2 or 3, which were only for the more experienced volunteers.  Unfortunately there were only a few Level 1 rooms for us to go in, though the dogs in all of the rooms were really excited to see us, and jumped up by the window as we looked inside.  I went inside one of the rooms to play with a dog called ‘Heisenberg’, though I could not locate ‘Schrödinger’s Cat’.  Yeah, sometimes I really crack myself up!

Heisenberg

Next I went inside a room, which had 3 dogs.  They required 3 volunteers in there, one with each of the dogs, so that they did not feel left off.  Else they fight for attention, and I saw that as one of the dogs, wearing a ‘Spoilt Princess’ sweater- though he was a boy, - pushed another pup away because he wanted to snuggle with me. I played there for some time and could have stayed longer, but it was time to leave.  We took a group picture and then departed, happy that we had spent an afternoon doing this.  ‘PAWS’ had been everything as advertised, and it was fantastic to have been able to serve, followed by a brief time of play.  The next day I wrote the following blurb for our internal website.  I hope it inspires others to come should we do this again.

“On Tuesday some members from AEP Energy visited PAWS to volunteer with the organization followed by some play time with the four-legged creatures.  It started with a video training on PAWS and its mission, after which the team prepared goody bags that would be handed out at PAWS’ 36-hour ‘Adoptathon’ this coming weekend.  A tricky assembly of the dog cones followed this and then it was time to play.  The team visited PAWS’ ‘Kitty Village’ and ‘Dog Town’ and many members went inside the individual rooms to pet the animals.  Most of the animals are strays and rescued from ‘Animal Care & Control’ after a life of neglect and possible abuse.  Thus human contact is a very important component of the animal’s rehabilitation and they were thrilled to have someone show affection, even for a brief period of time.  It is important to remember that while the grind of daily life may not permit someone to do this all the time, in the immortal words of Winnie The Pooh, ‘A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference’”