Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church
Date: Friday, February 13, 2015; 6:30-8:00 pm
Marianne had told me about this event in January, similar to
a one that had been held last year. It
was the ‘Valentine’s Day Dance’ for
guests who visit this place every week. Wilson
had been involved then and he was involved in this one as well. He had set up a ‘Meetup’ for this and requested all volunteers to get sweet treats
- homemade if possible. I had been working
as an intermediary between Marianne and Wilson to set this up through the ‘Meetup’, though I had told her that I
would come separately…and I would even wear a suit.
The week of the event I went and bought ‘Valentine's Day’ card kits, similar to the one's I had seen during
my project at ‘Mary Hartwell Catherwood Apartments’
last week. The only thing that I couldn’t
find were the foam hearts and Wilson said that he would provide those. My dear friend from work was going to come
with me but despite being a Friday, we were delayed in the office. Earlier in the evening Marianne had asked if
I could get 5 lbs. of sugar, but since I was going to be late, I redirected
that to Wilson as well. Before leaving I
asked Wilson if we needed more desserts and he said that we were a bit short. So before proceeding for the party, my friend
and I went to ‘Jewel’ and picked up
couple of boxes of mini cupcakes.
 |
| Appropriate wall decorations |
We arrived to see that the layout was a bit different than
the usual setting; with a DJ, a dance floor and colorful tablecloths. Plus the
walls had been decorated with heart-shaped cutouts and photographs from last
year’s party. Finally, there was the dessert’s
station where all the goodies were kept. After apologizing for being late, I borrowed a
few volunteers and started them on the candy card kits, while I went inside the
kitchen where I saw Wilson doing the dishes. He told me that the evening had been a bit
chaotic since Keith had quit. Wait what; I had just seen him last Wednesday! There had been a bit of panic earlier but now
things were under control and food was being served outside. Trust Wilson to get everything right.
The “Valentine Kits”
were now ready and the volunteers put them into bowls and took outside to
distribute to the guests. There was
general merriment going on and the guests seemed to be having fun. The dance party was well and truly underway
and even the kids were joining in. Most
of the volunteers were Wilson’s group from the ‘Meetup’, though I did spot a few regulars like Mark from the ‘Moody Bible Institute’. Marianne was taking pictures and even took
some with me. She told my friend how I
was her eye doctor, referring to our first meeting last year. In fact, my friend had heard a lot about all
of these people from me, including Wilson and we talked about all of our
volunteering experiences.
The party was winding down and I started getting the candles
into the kitchen - yes there had been real candles! They were supposed to be removed from inside
the holder and the holder washed. However,
removing them wasn't exactly easy owing to the warm oil, and I had to soak them
in ice water first. I wiped down the
kitchen in the meanwhile while chatting with Wilson, who mentioned that he was
feeding 500 homeless tomorrow morning. He
also said that he had inherited a food pantry - whatever that means. I know better than to ask him questions! The tables and chairs outside were to be left
in place since there were church events over the weekend and I told Marianne to
call me if ever she needed anything, especially with Keith gone. I still couldn't believe that he was gone, but it was time to leave. It
had been a wonderful party and the guests had enjoyed themselves. It’s one thing to have dinner service every
week, but this event was something that had shown our guests that on a day
universally acknowledged for acts of love, they mattered to someone.
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