Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church
Date: Wednesday, September 03, 2014; 5:45-8:30 pm
I was returning back after
several months, but it was a familiar feeling when I entered the kitchen and
saw the usual pre-meal rush. Marianne
recognized and greeted me by saying, “My
contacts doctor is here”. I couldn't
see Keith anywhere and someone mentioned that he was out getting some last
minute items for the dinner. Galen, who
has taken over the leadership of this project arrived soon thereafter and we
reminisced how it had just been the previous year that she had come here as a
volunteer – when I was leading I might add – and now she was leading
herself. Maybe I had done enough to
inspire here!
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| Back again |
There were several volunteers
from the ‘Moody Bible Institute’,
including a few newcomers. In the
kitchen a couple of volunteers were chopping vegetables for salad and I was
directing a volunteer on how to be safe with a knife. He was doing something which would probably
have led to an accident and I told him how to fold his fingers so as to keep
them away from the blade. Hey, watching ‘Food Network’ can be helpful! Another guy had been tasked with mixing two
types of dressing together – creamy and a oil based vinaigrette. I told him keep tasting so as to ensure there
was a balance between the two. Yeah,
another tip I have picked up on the way. Most of the volunteers were new and so told
them – including folks at the fruit station – that we would eventually have to
distribute in 21 bowls. 18, Marianne
corrected. Wow, things had changed since I was last here. She said that the clothing room had closed
and so their attendance had dropped, leading to them eliminating 3 tables from
the dining room.
While the salads were being
prepared, I went outside to distribute water jugs on the tables. One lady stopped me to chat and asked where I
was from. After I had responded, she
said that she was from Puerto Rico. She
wanted to know what the menu was for the evening and I said that I had seen
chicken and that was the extent of all I knew.
I told her that the salads would be out soon and that she should enjoy
the evening. I saw that some of the salt
shakers were empty and some were just missing.
I asked Keith, who had returned, and he said that this was all that we
had. So I just took some salt from some
of the shakers and filled the empty ones.
Even then there were a few tables without any salt and pepper and I told
the people sitting there that they would have to share with their
neighbors.
Keith had some people working on rice and had asked them to
add 54 cups of water. But when he came
to examine, he saw that the rice was sticky and so said it didn’t have enough
water. The volunteers who had been
helping him said that they had added exactly the same amount of water as he
wanted them to. Then we realized that
they were not supposed to stir once it was simmering and that was the reason
for the rice being the way it was. I
said that it could be like sushi rice, which is not the worst thing…well, with
sushi at least. There was no dessert
this evening, meaning that we were almost done, allowing me some time to chat
with Marianne as she told me about her upcoming trip to Scotland.
Next, it was time for Keith’s talk and he did his usual
welcome for the new volunteers – with occasional playful banter with
Marianne. Then he told us the protocol
on welcoming and treating guests, saying that over the last 2 months he has
rethought this being a dinner for homeless. He said it was a dinner for the
hungry, which could include homeless, substance abusers, people who are broke,
or those who just need to decide between paying bills and getting dinner. This made complete sense to me and was the
right way of describing the program.
Marianne then did her bit and finally one of the ‘Moody Bible’ volunteers led us in prayer. Now it was time for service. We had bread today and Marianne asked us to
arrange it in 18 bread baskets which we distributed on the tables along with
salads and juice. The musical program
was on, including a lady giving a rousing performance of ‘Money’, which has been covered by ‘Beatles’ amongst others. We
plated the dinner, which was a Jambalaya type rice dish with chicken and
sausages.
Marianne asked me keep tally of the plates served, including
seconds and volunteer meals and so I positioned myself next to the servers as
the guests lined up for seconds. There
were no takeout containers and so I asked some volunteers to cut Aluminum foil
for people to use for takeout. One
gentleman waited patiently even though it was his first meal, not
having come in time for the first service.
One person missed dinner because he had been with the nurse. Marianne
said that we must find a way to ensure this does not happen because nothing is
more heartbreaking for someone to miss a meal, especially when it may be their
only one of the day. I said maybe we can
have a token or something that can be placed on their chair so that we know
that we must save a plate for them.
The cleanup operation started and I went over to help with
the chairs and the tables. Some of the
guests helped out as well, which was heartening to see. One of the guests said that she had lost her
cell phone and as much as we wanted to help, we couldn’t find it and there was
nothing that we could do. After clean-up
Galen said that we should take a group photo and so we did and I left after
that. It had been a wonderful homecoming
for me, for this feels just like that.
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