Boston Marathon – Jimmy Fund Walk

Location: Wellesley High School To Copley Plaza, Boston

Date: Sunday, September 25, 2016; 8:30 am-12:30 pm

In the beginning...

After last year’s walk, I had decided never to do this again…similar to what I had said the year before that.  But then as the event came closer, I changed my mind and called my buddy Som to give it one more go.  He said that we should do a half marathon this time, and I agreed.  I wanted to be lighter than I was the previous year and so started a diet, losing a lot of weight and feeling good enough to wish that I was doing the full marathon instead!  But my buddy insisted on half marathon and so that was it.  I visited him in Connecticut a week prior and we did a 6 mile hike on a trail.  I also did a 3 mile trek the day before the walk in a park in Massachusetts.  I was ready as can be.

The start for us was at 8:30 am from "Wellesley High School" and we arrived there to see that festivities were underway.  It was a bit chilly in the morning, but nowhere as chilly as last couple of years when I started at 6:30 am.  We put on our “walk shirts” and affixed a sticker “I walk for” and this year we were doing it for my buddy’s brother and our friend, both of whom were undergoing treatment and are cancer “survivors”.  Besides that, I also added “All the kids of MAW”. 

...and the end

After taking some pictures we got underway, joining the walk on “Washington Street”.  Because we had started right around the scheduled start time, people were grouped together and with narrow lanes to walk, we had to find ways around some of them if we wanted to maintain our pace.  We had decided to not stop if we didn’t need to; and so skipped the lunch area from last year without pausing.  As we went past various stops, we were greeted by the volunteers, who were as enthusiastic as previous years.  The mile markers were passing by and we were maintaining a good pace.  We saw that most of the walkers were in teams, and had special t-shirts.  One such group had a shirt to honor a young woman who had been born on June 11, 1992 and passed June 13, 2016 – just 2 days after her 24^th birthday.  As we went past them, I mentioned to the group that my birthday was on June 11^th as well.  It wasn’t much, but a small connection. 

We arrived at “Heartbreak Hill” and going up it was tough, but not as much as it would have been if we had done a full marathon.  Each mile marker board had a story and at one of them, the boy whose story was on the marker board, was sitting right next to it; giving “high-5s” to everyone.  We entered “Beacon Street” and the crowds grew bigger and there was more traffic on the sidewalk.  We passed “Fenway Park” and then were on the home stretch, where we spent most of the time wondering where to go for lunch.  It seemed like a breeze and before we knew it, we were in “Copley Plaza”.  We had completed the walk in less than 4 hours and weren’t even that tired.  We made a promise to do at least a half marathon every year for as long as we are able.

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, September 07, 2016; 5:45-8:15 pm

I walked over from my office and arrived to see that Marianne was in excellent spirits.  She was in fact reading some jokes on the phone and they were bad.  For example, “What kind of eggs does a bad chicken lay” – “Deviled Eggs”, or “Where do people in Florida wash their clothes” – “Ft. Laundredale”.  Yeah, they were really bad and she made sure everyone heard them.  Tonight’s theme was “Greek” and Chef Dan asked me to cut in half several loaves of “Pita Bread”.  I tried cutting 5 at a time and that wasn’t working, with some of them being frozen.  But it did not take too long, especially when Marianne joined me to help.  Once again we were a bit “light” this week with volunteers.  Remembering my experience from last month, I was hoping that this wouldn’t be a problem.

Once the Pita had been stacked in “4 inch pans” and sent to the steamer, Chef asked me to start working on the salad, which comprised of Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Resins and “Feta Cheese”.  Another volunteer, who was new, joined me and she chopped up the tomatoes while I handled the lettuce.  There were several heads of lettuce and it took me a lot of time to get through those.  Next, I started on the resins and being sticky, they were being a nuisance to chop.  Thankfully, my fellow volunteer said she would do the resins while I took over the cucumbers.  We divided the salad in 2 big bowls after which I crumbled the cheese in each of them.  Then we divided the dressing that had been made and I told my fellow volunteer that there was only one way to mix all of this, which was to get in there with our hands.  We did that and then it was a question of dividing the salad in 80 individual serving sized bowls.  We were doing a generous fistful in each bowl; till we realized that there were a dozen other bowls that we had missed, meaning that we had to go back in to redistribute.  We stacked all the bowls on racks and then I went and caught up with John, who was returning after a long absence.  I learned that he had broken his collarbone while playing soccer, which was a coincidence since another volunteer Katie and strained her “MCL” while playing soccer as well.  Maybe soccer is not a good game for “Breaking Bread” volunteers, since they are breaking more than just bread!

Guests loved tonight's menu

I went outside and saw one of the guests who I had not seen in a long time.  He was looking weak and thin and when I asked where he had been, he just said away.  In any case, he greeted me warmly and we discussed tonight’s menu, which was “Gyro’s”, “Greek Rice” and some “Greek Beans” dish.  Plus there were “Blueberry Muffins” – baked, not from a box. I went back and saw that Marianne was still “entertaining” everyone with her jokes and had just found a book called “Erotic Stories” in the kitchen.  I said that instead of the usual discussions, we should just read that!  Well, that did not happen and after the introduction - we had 2 new volunteers – there was assignment of the duties; where I would be on plating as usual.  We took our places after distributing the salad bowls, and for the 3^rd time in a row, I was on the garnish; with a plate of Pita, lamb, rice and beans coming to me.  I would then put greens on the pita, as well as “tzatziki sauce” and finally sprinkle parsley.  Marianne made the announcements and since we were short of volunteers, there was a backlog of plates, with 2 volunteers struggling to serve everyone.  One lady guest was stranding and watching us plate and when I asked why she wasn’t taking a seat, she said that she was watching all the men on the line! 

We finally managed to get everything out and boy we were busy.  We immediately started seconds with me keeping the tally.  Even for this, we had a big line and it looked like people had enjoyed the food.  They were asking for more meat and one of the new volunteers said that they should also take veggies with that.  We had some food left over and so Marianne asked me to make “to-go” containers and I spent most of my time doing that, meaning someone else had to stack and move the chairs. I helped wipe down the station and then it was time to go.  Marianne thanked me and I left, a little less tired than before since I had not done the chairs thing today.

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, August 03, 2016; 5:30-8:30 pm

My dad was visiting and I had asked Marianne the previous month if I could get him for the project.  She had said that “Yes, we like dads”.  So we took an ‘Uber’ and arrived at 5:30 pm. Marianne was missing and I learned that she was at a wake – an “Irish” one I hoped and said so to someone.  Their response was that all of the wakes usually are, since people drink.  I set up my dad in a chair in the kitchen and then asked Chef Dan what he wanted me to do.  He promptly dispatched me to chop cilantro.  Oh boy, me with knives again.

I started with that task and was done soon, at which he asked me to move to cutting Pineapples.  He got out his special knives for this one and showed me how to carve and cut a pineapple.  I got the hang of it soon and then it was just a question of working on 4 big pineapples, which were all going into the meat dish.  I was next to a volunteer and Chef Dan came and said that it was his last day.  I asked last day before what?  Was he going to prison, the moon, what was the last day referring to?  I learned that it wasn’t as drastic and that he had been visiting and was now going back home.  Like the previous month we had "cinnamon rolls" and this time we even had a glaze, which was being prepared on the side.  We also had "refried beans", though this time the Chef had a small “immersion blender”, meaning that there was no need for mashing manually…well not for me anyways!

Tonight's "assembly line"

My dad was sitting on a chair and observing everything that was going on, though I saw him make an occasional comment.  We seemed to be short-handed this evening, and Lindsey – who was playing the Marianne role – was having trouble getting enough people for each task.  I said that I would plate followed by counting seconds; my usual duties.  There were 2 couples who were here for the first time and they both went with “Juicing”, though I don’t know why anyone ever wants that job.  We did our prayer and I set my dad up outside, next to the plating station.  The menu was very similar to last month, with a “Mexican” theme, and once again I was on the garnish with “pickled onions”, cheese and cilantro.  I said that rather than use a fork, I would use my fingers for onions and cilantro, which would be more efficient way of doing things.  After the salads and juice was served, we started on the food and I was the bottleneck with the 3 sets of garnish, for which my fellow volunteers gave me a hard time.  Everyone’s a critic! 

After the first serving, I took over the tallying duty and many guests were coming back.  One gentleman kept returning, not for food, but to ask for hot water for his tea.  He was extremely well-mannered and always referred to me by name – and with perfect pronunciation!  When the rush was over, I went over to start stacking the chairs.  We had been told that some of the guests had complained that we had been disrespectful by not waiting for people to finish before cleaning up, which I thought was a fair point.  For the longest time I was the only one doing chairs and wheeling them in.  At one stage, I even dropped a stack of 10 on the floor and had to do it again.  One of the new couples had left early – which I always have a problem with since Marianne doesn’t like increasing the number of volunteers, meaning that any commitment should be for the entire evening.  When one couple was stacking chairs together – by lifting chairs at the same time like some couples therapy, I said to the guy that there was another carrier for chairs and that he should help out.  I was exhausted at the end with all the stacking and soon left with my dad who I think had a good time.  I saw our old Chef Keith and I hadn’t seen him since he left – or asked to leave as he insinuated.  He asked if my dad and I were related since I "looked like him".  He still feels a bit bitter, but said that he was doing some good things that he liked. I was glad to hear that.

Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, July 21, 2016; 5:45-10:30 pm

I was volunteering after missing a few sessions and was running late.  I joined my colleagues in the staff area and heard Bob mention how this had been a good “star-gazing” week.  Tonight theme was called “Jumping Jupiter” and all the programs had been designed around well, Jupiter. Michael was on vacation and so Adriana was going to be our coordinator for the evening.  She was extremely enthusiastic and showed us a “Planet Pin” that she had made and something that we would all have an opportunity to do.  I saw my schedule and I was supposed to attend a lecture during my 3^rd shift, from 8:30-9:30 pm, which would be a nice break.

We left for a tour and our first stop was in in the “PXP Classroom” or as it would be called this evening - “The Storm Lab”; and it was looking more organized and cleaner than ever before.  There were 4 different set-ups there, including one where the guests would pour milk in some plastic cups, add a few drops of food coloring to it, and then dip a “q-tip” into a soap solution and gently touch the colored spot. The colors appear to rush away from each other and that is due to the phenomenon of “surface tension” and the difference in the polarities of soap and milk.  Another exhibit was a bowl of water on a “LED” lit stand and mounted on a turntable.  The turntable would…turn and as you added some food coloring, you could see the vortices form as swirling bands – like on Jupiter.  The 3^rd demo was a “Styrofoam” model of Jupiter cut in half, with 2 possible theories regarding the “Giant Red Spot” or “GRS” – whether it’s just on the surface, or if it was going deep all the way to the core.  The final display was 2 rollers connected by “runner bands” and a couple of people holding each end.  A red ball would be placed between the rubber bands and the guests would move their rollers to rotate the ball while leaving it in the same position – like the swirling bands around “GRS” which rotates, but stays in the same location.

My "Planet Pin"

We then went to the “Scavenger Hunt” table, where this time it was a Bingo board of Jupiter related artifacts or some of the other stuff going on this evening.  The visitors would have to either take a picture with it or get stamped.  Next stop was in the “Community Classroom”, where the guests would make “gliders” from paper, straws, and other paraphernalia and idea was to keep them afloat past two fans that were simulating storms on Jupiter.  It was your basic "paper airplane" experiment.  Final stop was at a station called “Planet Pins” and here there were loads of slides in binders, most of them Jupiter related, but some others as well.  There were different colored “LEDs” and one had to tape those to a battery cell and then place against the slide to make it shine.  This was then inserted into a wax paper to diffuse the light, and finally a backing was attached to the slide using binder clips, which would also hold on to your shirt.  It was a fun activity and all of us made pins for ourselves. I had a Jupiter slide with white light and mine ended up perfectly aligned with the “GRS”.

My first shift was at the “Planet Pins” station and so I stayed back with another volunteer while my other colleagues went for their tasks.  It was slow initially, as it usually is at the beginning of the evening. But soon people came in droves and all of them were exited to make the pins.  Many took time selecting their slides, being very particular with those, as well as with the color of the “LED” that they wanted to use.  I was challenging people to use the Red light and match it with the “GRS”, and when one guy actually tried it, his pin appeared very menacing.  I had to guide many folks step-by-step, including asking them to switch the polarity of the battery when the light did not work.  Everyone was asking me where the slides were from and I had no idea.  I was telling some of the younger visitors that this was “Instagram of the 70s” and many of the older folks were agreeing.  Yep, my usual comedy routine!

At 7:30 pm I moved for my shift at the “Storm Lab”.  There wasn’t anyone else there to help, when we had been told that there would be a facilitator present for the 3 activities other than milk-color-soap solution.  This would be tricky to pull off should more people show up, which is precisely what happened at the beginning.  People came in and I was rushing to get them set-up for the milk experiment and then doing the demo of the other ones.  I would get couples to do the Rollers and Rubber band trick, telling them that it was all about coordination and that they needed to make sure that they were in sync.  It took people some time to get used to it and once they were, it wasn’t that exciting, because that was it.  I also gave a demo on the “GRS” depth vs surface and finally the one with the Turntable.

Finally a facilitator arrived to do these things, meaning I could focus on the milk demonstration.  People would come and I would instruct them on what to do and they were fascinated to see the outcome, where the drop of coloring would disperse like a ripple.  The one thing which I had to tell them to do was either dip the “q-tip” back into the soap solution or to use a new one, else it did not work after the first attempt.  We were using “Whole Milk” and people were commenting on that.  I would say that we needed all the calories for this and tonight wasn’t about dieting.  We actually needed the higher content of the dispersed fat, though my explanation would get a laugh out of them.  Two High School Physics teachers came in and I had a good banter going on with them.  One of them said that her main focus was to “impress me” and I said that I was looking forward to that!  We talked about the science and I enjoyed the quick witted responses that were flowing on both sides.  There were instructions on the table as regards this activity and people were following them more or less.  But not everyone was dumping the milk in the sink after their turn and I had to do it quite often.  A group of 5 came and one of the guys was so belligerent, that his friend came in later an apologized for him.  But it was all fun.

I had a break during my next shift to be able to attend a lecture in “Johnson Theater” on “Searching for life on Jupiter’s Moons”.  As I came inside the theater, it was already quite full.  I spotted the 2 physics teachers and told them that I expected them to explain the lecture to me afterwards.  A professor from Atlanta was giving the talk and after a few technical difficulties, we were underway.  The lecture was very good, as she covered the 4 main “Galilean Moons” of Jupiter, focusing primarily on ‘Europa’ and the plans for it.  It was getting interesting, though I left before the Q&A, to go for my last shift. 

I was headed to the “Community Classroom” for the “Glider Challenge”.  As I came in, as expected, everything was chaos – not so much in terms of people, but the materials were spread all over the room.  There were pre-made templates available to the guests, but they were now buried under a ton of other stuff and people were pretty much using their own designs.  The previous volunteer showed me some of the more “successful” designs, which included everything from “paper planes” one makes in school, to “flying saucers”, to something like a “Klingon Bird of Prey”.  As people came in, I told them about the task.  By this time people had an opportunity to have a few drinks and so were very enthusiastic in doing this.  One guy and a woman refused to give up till they got it right and were trying up to the closing time.  One gentleman was being obnoxious by rolling a paper ball and trying to throw in into the square where the glider had to land.  There wasn’t much gliding and told him that.  He said we had not made the rules clear and I said that if it would help him sleep better at night, then he had totally succeeded.  I wasn’t going to argue.  We called it quits at 10 pm and then it was a lot of cleaning – a lot since there was paper everywhere and some other things. I left at 10:30 pm, as it was raining outside, but I had fun this evening.

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, July 06, 2016; 5:45-8:15 pm

I had not been for my regular shift in months, though I had come for the “Summer Spectacular” last month.  I arrived to see that Marianne was here along with the usual Week 1 squad.  Chef Dan handed me a masher like the one used for potatoes and told me that it would be my best friend for the evening.  I was presented with a giant vat of beans and told to go at it with the masher.  They were eventually going to be converted into "refried beans", meaning they were a long ways from the desired consistency.  And it was all on me!

My beans

A volunteer was chopping cilantro next to me and Chef Dan was telling her to go finer.  I mentioned to her that based on the task that I had, she was ok doing hers.  Another volunteer was chopping fresh garlic and Chef Dan told her to go finer as well.  I mentioned that we had garlic powder, at which he said that he prefers fresh whenever available…and then proceeded to add a lot of garlic powder into the beans.  He also added cumin as I continued to mash.  Chef told me to move the giant pan to the stove in order to start the cooking…while I continue to mash.  I asked another volunteer to help carry the vessel to the stove and as I continued my mashing, I had to take care so as not to burn myself on the flame.  Behind me, fresh mayonnaise was being made in a stand mixer and I whispered to Marianne that I once made mayo with hand, not a mixer…referring to a cooking class I had taken in ‘Alliance Francaise’.  Everyone’s an expert in the kitchen.

As I continued, meat was being cooked on the griddle and a “Mexican Pilaf” was steaming somewhere else.  It was indeed a “Mexican themed” dinner tonight, with my beans, some sort of “Sopes with Meat” and the rice.  Plus, we had cinnamon rolls, which were stinking up the place good.  I was tired, hot and sweaty and my fingers were blistered.  People kept coming and  were encouraging, sympathizing etc., but no one offered to help.  Chef Dan said that I deserved an award tonight.  I asked if there was going to be a ceremony and an after party.  Chef said that he would cook for me, really hinting that since volunteers can also have the meal, his task was already done.   Another comedian!

Tonight's plate

I asked Chef Dan if he had an “immersion blender” and he said he did, but didn't offer it early on since it would have clogged; however it was ok to use it now.  But now the problem was that there was no plug point near the stove.  So we had to move the pan again; which was still preferable to me over the mashing.  I started with the blender and it was only a slight improvement on the mash, primarily because of its weight and the fact that I was tired.  At one stage the Chef said that we had the consistency we wanted, but before I could celebrate, he wanted to move the pot back to the stove and continue stirring over heat.  I spent the next several minutes stirring the pot to ensure that the beans did not stick to the base.  Finally, Chef Dan said that we were ready to transfer to a “6 inch pan” and with my arms being numb, I said that someone else could do it.  My part in this process was at an end. 

I went outside and saw that the music was on with Phil playing the piano.  I went over to chat with him and he invited me to sing.  I said that would not be good for anyone! Marianne got everyone together for her speech and she went over the instructions, especially for the benefit of the 3 newcomers that we had this evening.  In terms of assignment, as usual I would be on the plating team.  As we lined up, I found myself at the end of the line, responsible for the garnish.  The plate with the rice, beans, “sopes” and meat would come to me, and I would sprinkle “Cotija Cheese” and the chopped cilantro, which I was doing with flourish.  “It’s all in the wrist’, I mentioned to another volunteer.  After everyone had been served, I stepped aside and the seconds started.  Then, depending on where guests were sitting, I was stacking the chairs and moving them to the back, helping clean the front of the house.  We were done at 8:15 pm and I left after saying bye to everyone.  My dad would be visiting next month and so I mentioned to Marianne that I may get him with me.

Serve-A-Thon 2016

Location: Lorraine Hansberry Senior Apartments

Date: Saturday, June 25, 2016; 7:45 am-2:30 pm

It was that time and once again I had been approached to be a "Primary Leader".  I had filled out a survey and as with any other year, had only requested “Senior Sites”.  I was allocated this location, to which I had never been to, and Alisa had signed up as my leader.  This would be our 3^rd Serve-A-Thon together in the last 4 years.  Katie, who was new at Chicago Cares, would be our staff contact and she sent me some details, which included the tasks.  Besides making Breakfast and playing Bingo, we would also be making “Fleece Pillows”.  I attended a Chicago Cares “Volunteer Management Social’ in May and the main objective was to identify people’s leadership style and also go over scenarios that may come up with volunteers.  Of the 10 questions that were asked, based on my results, I tested as being 93% in the “Analytical” category, the highest of everyone there in any particular group – other categories were “Dominant”, “Supportive” and “Inspiring”.  As I spoke about my style, I mentioned to them that as an “Analytical person”, I expected precise instructions for execution.

We would be making one of these

I was called for an on-site training on June 8 and I just saw my name on the email.  Alisa asked if she should come and I was told that I could cover for her. The location was way out west in the neighborhood of Austin and it took me some time to get there.  I arrived to see that Katie was present, but that was it.  There was no site rep - something which took her aback as well – and so there was absolutely nothing that I learned that day.  I did know that I definitely needed another leader besides Alisa if we were doing 2 tasks.  I asked Katie questions like how many residents and if they were informed that unlike the regular breakfast that starts at 10 am on Chicago Cares Saturday’s, this one was at noon.  I also sent a note to Maura at Chicago Cares, saying that I had some concerns. We talked the next day, where she agreed to address most of them.  In closing I said that we should treat this with equal respect as we would any of the other school projects and so the same amount of attention was required for this project.  There's me being analytical!

To their credit, Chicago Cares did send me lot of material and addressed all of my concerns, along with providing me with another leader, Hillarie.  The day before the event, I spoke with both of my leaders and also picked up a “Walkie-talkie radio” from ‘Daley Plaza’, this being the primary mode of communication with the “Dispatch center” the next day.  I studied all of my materials that night and was ready to go.  I took a train to the site and reached at 7:45 am, which was our expected arrival time.  I learned from the security guard that the site rep wasn’t there, this being a Saturday.  So much for the site rep speech, which is supposed to be an integral part of this program.  I checked in with Dispatch using the radio, which was blowing up with others on the same channel. After that I surveyed the boxes which Chicago Cares had dropped off and there were a lot of those.

All of our supplies

Alisa arrived soon followed by Hillarie.  Also present were 2 Chicago Cares staff members – Chelsea and Josh.  They were just stopping by with a supply van in case we needed anything and then they would be on their way to another location.  Good thing they were here since we were missing scissors and tape measure to cut the fleece rolls. I went over the specifics with Alisa and Hillarie and we decided that Alisa would do the Breakfast while Hillarie would be in charge of the Pillows.  My job would be to ensure that all the volunteers were having a good time and were engaged.  Besides that, I would also coordinate the Bingo and decorations.  Speaking of Bingo, we had a lot of prizes - over 80 individual pieces.  I mentioned that we should not display all of them, but Hillarie said that we should since they love those here.  I went and put up some signs welcoming volunteers and also directions to the restrooms.  Alisa and I decided to have breakfast at 11:15 am instead of noon, and so I went and told the security guard to make that announcement.  After that there was nothing much to do but wait, during which I called dispatch and was told that 14 volunteers were headed to my site.

The volunteers arrived and I assembled everyone for introductions.  It was all women, except 2 young boys, who were with their mom’s.  Also in the group were Hillarie’s mom and her roommate.  I talked about the neighborhood of Austin and how it was also the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway.  I talked about the senior residence and also about food insecurity for low-income communities, and how Chicago Cares is helping.  I then asked Alisa and Hillarie to pitch their individual projects and they recruited people.  Alisa went to the kitchen and they started on the breakfast comprising of eggs, biscuits, sausages, fruit salad etc.  Hillarie and a few others settled down on the floor in a corner where we had dragged the fleece rolls.

The room was extremely cold because of the air conditioning and we had brought that up several times with the site staff.  We couldn’t raise the temperature and so just opened the windows since it was warm outside.  I asked the 2 young boys and a few others to help with decorations and they started putting up streamers, table cloths and what looked like centerpieces.  We didn’t have enough of either, though I had seen some in the supply closet and pulled them out.  People always enjoy this decoration task and these guys did it with a lot of enthusiasm.  Once they were done, I got them rolling up the plastic cutlery in a paper napkin – again borrowing some from the supply cabinet.  In the kitchen the cooking was underway, though the biggest challenge was thawing the Orange juice, which had been frozen solid since it had been stored in the freezer.  But besides that, it looked like the food would be done on time.  The fleece pillow group was making good progress as well and had even stuffed a few pillows to see how it would look, in each of the 2 colors – blue and grey.

The residents had started coming in and I welcomed a gentleman.  I sat him down and chatted with him, explaining how today would be different than usual.  Around 11:15 am, Alisa told me that we could start serving and so I went to recruit people who had assembled outside the building.  I even invited the lady who had driven the volunteer bus to join us.  Not many came in initially, but as we commenced serving, they started filtering in.  I was also walking about getting their signature on a list, something that is required by the facility.  I went and delivered a plate to the security guard and the janitor who had helped us earlier.  Two ladies were in charge of plating and they were making plates rapidly.  I had assigned the boys the task of pouring the now defrosted juice, and they were walking about politely asking everyone if they wanted a glass. Alisa asked how long they should keep cooking and I said a little bit more.  While the room had filled up significantly, I said that some folks may be under the impression that we start at noon and so may be coming later.

I set up the Bingo table and announced the rules, which were that there would be 3 winners per board and you could only win once, after which you have to give your prize away.  Once everyone in the room had a prize, they could win again.  The gentleman who had been the first to arrive mentioned that he did not know how to play.  I showed him the Bingo card, which had red sliding windows to cover the called numbers and it was against a white background.  I mentioned that the first thing he had to do was open the sliders and make all numbers “white”, to which he responded, “typical”; causing both of us to laugh.  I was pleased to see that one of the boys sat down with him and start interacting.

We started the game with 2 volunteers on the Bingo station.  One of the resident ladies won soon and picked up a prize.  Looking at the number of prizes that we had, this would be a long day for sure.  At one stage, a lady who had been served breakfast called me and said that her sausage was cold in the center.  I apologized and took it back to the kitchen, saying that we had food being returned!  One lady came in and said that she couldn’t stay since she had a friend over and the guard wouldn’t let outsiders in.  I asked her to come with me and made 2 plates for her to take away so that she could share with her friend; at which she was extremely pleased.  One lady had her infant grandson with her and while he was initially asleep in a stroller, he woke up a bit later, allowing me to play with him.  The game was progressing slowly and the lady who had won first, kept winning over and over.  At one stage she got upset that she had to keep giving her prize away.  A gentleman next to her said it wasn’t fair that someone was benefiting from their “hard work”.  I said that this was a game of chance and how was that hard work.  He said that they had to concentrate.  “Touché”, I said.

The Pillow case group was working with intent and wasn’t even taking breaks for lunch.  In the meanwhile, one of the volunteers was cleaning the kitchen.  Hillarie had told me about her, especially her penchant for cleaning.  I went over to chat and found her to be a delightful lady.  Bingo was really taking a lot of time and was being called by a volunteer who said that she was right at home calling a long game loudly.  She said that she was Italian and so was used to yelling!  I increased the number of winners per card to 6 and later to 10 and was pleased when we finally - after over an hour - had everyone with a prize, so that we could finally have repeat winners.  We were mistaken if we thought that it would diffuse the tension, since 2 ladies got into an argument, where one claimed that the other had picked up a prize without even winning.  I feared that they would come to blows since their tempers were running wild.  The accuser said “Why would you want to argue over something from a dollar store”, which when you think about it can work against her argument as well!

Everyone wanted these pillows

After what seemed like an eternity, we had finally given away all prizes.  At one stage I had even asked if the residents wanted to stop and they had of course said no.  Now the problem was that everyone wanted pillows, and they had a specific request in terms of color and size.  I announced that everyone would get just one pillow and it would be the first available.  We did not have the resources to keep making them and it was almost 2 pm, meaning that we had to close soon.  We gave away the last of the pillows and residents had now started leaving. A lady who was in a wheelchair had told Alisa that she wanted to thank us and gave a short speech on how much she as well as the others had appreciated us coming today, cooking, playing bingo and showing them all a good time.  It was a nice gesture on her part.

We cleaned up rapidly and most things were stuffed in the closet.  Even though the table cloth looked clean, I told them that we couldn’t reuse it and so had to throw it away.  I gathered everyone for reflection and asked them what went right, opportunities for improvements etc.  The only feedback was that some of the tools for fleece pillows weren’t necessarily the right ones and that they needed bigger scissors.  Plus, they said that maybe we should do some activity that residents could participate in, like them making some of these pillows.  I said that I had always viewed this activity as something similar to a painting project at other sites, where we do something for them rather than with them as in a regular project.

Alisa and Hillarie pitched the projects that they lead, as did I, mentioning “Job Coaching at ODS” and “Lakeview Senior’s Pet Therapy”.  I had taken down all the signs except the one with Chicago Cares "Missions" and I pointed that out to them.  Finally, I said that while I appreciated everyone, I was particularly thankful to the 2 young boys and encouraged their moms to bring them for some other projects.  They had really done a terrific job.  We all pilled on the bus – including Alisa’s bike, which was difficult to get in – and rode to the party at ‘Daley Plaza’.  We took a group picture and then after returning my radio, the only thing left was to go and grab a beer and some food.  While most of the volunteers had eaten with the residents, I had not had a chance.  I saw some of the other groups slowly come in, but I was tired to wait and socialize.  I saw that many sites had over 130 volunteers.  But I would take my 14 any day over them.

Summer Spectacular At The Wells Street Café

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2016; 5:45-8:00 pm

I had been unable to go to for my regularly scheduled shift for the last 3 months and so when Marianne requested help for this annual event, I immediately said yes.  This is the evening when the Dining Hall gets converted to a “restaurant” with “wait staff” and “servers”, and where guests could order from 2 different main courses, rather than eat whatever is presented to them.  Marianne has asked us via an email if we should continue the same way for seconds, where they do not have to line up, but rather are served at the table.  I said that we should absolutely continue the same process and treat them like real guests.  It seems like a lot of people agreed with me, because Marianne said that it was what we would do.

If its June it must be the "Summer Spectacular"

Wearing Black and White, I arrived to see that the place was full, especially the kitchen, where the chefs and their helpers were hard at work.  The other volunteers, who were servers and wait staff, were waiting outside.  We even had a different musical group present today and it did feel like a special occasion.  As I signed up, 2 girls behind me were making name-tags and one of them asked the other what name she wanted to go by today.  I said to them that it was fantastic that you get to pick a name for each day of the week.  I washed up and asked little Hannah to tie my apron.  She said that she was headed back to El Salvador for a “Summer Camp” and that she would be a “Junior” in High School next year.  Wow, she was growing up, yet still so young.

We were all getting a notepad like last year and 2 colors of “post-it notes” – Blue for Lasagna and Yellow for Chicken.  The Chicken was served with “Vesuvio Potatoes” and Broccoli and Lasagna with “Garlic Bread” and Broccoli.  Marianne made it clear that there would be no substitution of the sides.  Since I was the “wait staff”, I did not have any job in the kitchen and thus there was a lot of waiting.  Marianne got us together and started assigning tables.  There were 11 “wait staff” and 18 tables, meaning that some people had 2 tables.  I was assigned “Table 10”, but then Marianne got confused since some Tables were still remaining and no one was ready to take on 2.  I told her to get give me “Table 17” and “18”.  Marianne gave us the rundown on how to take orders and then place the “post-it notes” next to the silverware.  I asked a few questions at the end, such as “Are substitutions allowed for seconds”, “Will we use same or different plates for seconds” etc.  Marianne said that I was asking some good questions and then said that seconds would be served in “Take home containers”.  Finally, we were assigned servers and I got 2 ladies as my assistants.

We still had 30 minutes to go and so all of us assembled to watch the musical choir group “Harmony Hope & Healing”.  They were outstanding in the way they involved the guests, including a lady who taught everyone a few “Ghanaian” words and got the audience to sing along.  Then there was the keyboard player, who put on a “Mime” mask and did a performance over a song.  I saw our regular pianist Phil standing and watching and asked if he should be on the piano.  He said that tonight was all about this group.  “No harm in having dueling pianos”, I said. Marianne called everyone inside the kitchen for the pre-meal speech and prayer, and since the already small kitchen was crowded, I stayed outside.  Then everyone came out and Marianne went and made announcements regarding the way the evening would go; specifically that the seconds would be served tableside and that there would be no need to line up.  She also mentioned that this was our “8^th Annual Summer Spectacular”.

I spoke with Chef Dan and mentioned that I had heard Marianne say that there was a palate cleansing “Amuse Bouche”.  He laughed and said that they had eliminated that idea.  I told him that as a challenge, they should do an “18-course tasting menu” next year.  Once again, he laughed and said that if it were just him, his wife and Chef Adam – who was the co-chef this evening – it would be ok, but with assistant volunteers it would be difficult. I said, hence the challenge because I was confident in their food and as far as serving was concerned, we could do that on smaller disposable plates.  It was time to go get orders and I started at “Table 18” where there were 4 guests, all of who picked Chicken.  “Table 17” had 5 guests and except 1, all picked Chicken again!  I came back and stood in the line behind other folks, with my servers next to me.  As soon as my turn came, I placed the order and my servers delivered the food.  Next, they delivered the plate of desserts, which were “Cream Puffs” that had been freshly made. 

The other volunteers were now having dinner and I went and took orders for seconds.  Many changed to Lasagna, but some stuck with Chicken.  Well, Chicken was definitely the popular choice, since it was now gone.  I immediately sent one of my servers over to check with my table if they would substitute to Lasagna and everyone said yes.  But even that was running short and so reluctantly Marianne made the decision to have guests line up.  This wasn’t right, especially since we had told them that they would be served at the table and now there would be a rush to get the remaining food.  Plus, one gentleman on my table was in a wheelchair and there is no way he could make it to the line.  It was just a shame and I could see the pained expression on Marianne’s face.  I started with the clean-up, but there were a lot of people tonight to help with that.  I chatted with Marianne and she asked for feedback.  I said that as much as I liked having options for main course, we should stick to one since it would mean better planning for the chefs.  Tonight had been unbalanced with lot more of one being requested and she made a note of this.  I left earlier than usual, because staying would mean that I was just in the way.  It may not have ended as we would have liked, but it had been a good evening.

Wish Ball 2016 – Part 2

Location: Navy Pier

Date: Saturday, May 21, 2016; 4:00-7:30 pm

I really was not in a mood to go and thought about cancelling several times.  There was a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that I had been working on and while that is not an excuse, my heart wasn’t in volunteering and that would make everything pointless.  But despite several excuses that I had come up with - including wardrobe malfunction and dry cleaners misplacing my pants - go I did.  I took an ‘Uber’ to Navy Pier and it was a gorgeous day, meaning lots of people were outside.  I arrived a bit after my check-in time and went upstairs to the break room.  As I did so, I saw that the registration training was already underway.

I got my shirt and came down and sure enough, the training was over and I was left to fend for myself.  I was waiting with some other volunteers, some of whom were “floaters” or “registration support”, meaning that they would be called when required or else were asked to escort the “VIP guests” to the party on the terrace.  Eric, who is a nice guy and someone I keep running into during these events, was the “captain” for registration volunteers along with a lady named Cindy. The registration tables, like last year, were arranged as per last name and I told one of the support volunteers – it was her first time – that I should pick someone with name starting with “A-F” since they were used to being called first all through school and so would show up early!

The registration screen that I had to work with

Captain Cindy asked if I knew how to use the registration system and I said that while I had seen the training video and had worked it last year, I could do with a refresher.  So she said that she would pair me with an experienced volunteer – another lady called Cindy.  My partner and I took the last names starting with “G-L” and as I sat down, I learned that while my partner was a lovely lady, she was just was just as bad as me when it came to using the system.  Experienced indeed!  A guest came and Captain Cindy peered intently over my shoulders.  We were required to swipe the guest’s credit card for a faster checkout at the end of the evening. As I had expected, the swipe did not work and they took away that device, meaning we had to now physically enter their credit card information.  So much for preparation!

As we waited, I mentioned to my partner that since we were using “surface tablets”, why not send people out in the crowd with them so as to hasten the process – like the way ‘Potbelly’ does it at their sandwich shops.  They could even have a “swipe device” attached to the tablet – like cab drivers have in their cars.  Even better, ask people to pre-register and skip the lines.  Cindy said that many people prefer lines to which I said, “really”.  Has anyone asked them?  Are we just assuming this? I mean how difficult it is for people who register online and oh by the way can submit bids online – something MAW is proud of – to also do this.  Arrogance is the enemy of progress and if this isn’t old world arrogance, I don’t know what is.  

People started coming in and some of them handed their cards while some didn’t – claiming that they would do so at the end of the night; though I seriously doubt that.  One gentleman asked if it was secure and I said that it was the same for everyone who’s doing it.  He asked if I was going on the “Odyssey” with his card and I suppose it was a joke.  Well, I wasn’t in the mood and politely said I wouldn’t even know how since I had no idea what that was.  Another issue was with the tickets that we were handing out, which had their bidder number and table number.  These also had special magnetic stars for “Board Members” and “Wish Ambassadors”, something that they could wear those on their lapel.  Good idea, but it was causing all the tickets to get stuck together and then pulling them apart meant that some magnets were getting dislodged.  My partner said that they had provided feedback on this issue last year, but nothing had been done.

Speaking of “Board Members”, most were just going straight for their pictures rather than stopping by to check in.  A couple came in and I saw that their phone number began with “860”.  I recognized it as being from Connecticut and I mentioned to them how I had spent a lot of time there.  Some young “committee members” came and I couldn’t locate their card.  With a drink in hand the guy mentioned that he was with someone and should just be directed to their table. I said that there was no way to tell the table number without the card.  He seemed a bit arrogant and I am sure that being on the committee was just a way to add to his resume, without doing any semblance of work.  Fortunately a staff member took him off my hands.  One girl came and I asked if she wanted to leave her credit card number and she said that she was a staff member, insinuating that she couldn’t afford to bid on anything.  At least she was being honest.

The crowd was increasing and there were long lines for names beginning with “A-F” – maybe my theory was right.  Captain Cindy was bringing some of the cards to me and then escorting those people to our section.  The problem with people was that after checking-in, they were hanging out near the table and blocking others.  I told Eric to get one of the “floater” people who were just standing around doing nothing to help escort them to another location.  In any case, these support people weren’t that attentive when it came to “VIPs” and we needed their help to take them to the party.  At one stage I forgot to add a zip code to a card I had swiped – oh the machine was back – and gave the guests their the card back.  They had just left, when I realized that the system wouldn’t let me proceed.  There were a couple of other helpers who probably worked for the software company that we were using and I asked one of them to go chase the man down and get the zip code.  He didn’t make much of an effort saying that it would be odd. 

We had a lot of cards remaining in the end, but at 7:15 pm I told Eric that I had to go.  The dinner was about to start anyways and anyone who was to come was here.  I went back to volunteer room to get my jacket and saw that all the volunteers were having dinner, but I was ready to leave.  I should have stayed and watched the 30 year celebration where all “Wish Ambassadors” would be brought on stage.  Plus we had the “Wish Mom” story and if it was like last year, it would be amazing.  But I had a bad attitude about all of this and it was better to leave.  As I did so, I was certain that I would not return next year. Not when volunteers are treated like expendable sweat shop workers rather than partners.

Wish Ball 2016 – Part 1: Walkthrough

Location: Navy Pier

Date: Monday, May 17, 2016; 5:30-6:30 pm

Here we were again, another “Wish Ball Walkthrough” which was mandatory, with volunteers being threatened with expulsion from the event if they did not attend.  I have never understood why people who have volunteered in the past are required to do this, but whatever.  When asked earlier, I had said that my preferred duties would be either “Wish Child Ambassador” or “Registration”.  I wanted something that would be over earlier in the evening; not a late activity like “closeout”.  I received confirmation a few days later that I would indeed be on registration and would be done by 7:30 pm.  Perfect.

This year's concept: "Imagination Made Possible"

I arrived at Navy Pier by bus, meaning that I had to walk the entire length of the ¾ mile to get to the orientation place.  When I finally arrived, I saw that several other volunteers had gathered around and were awaiting instructions.  The orientation started soon and I was the only registration volunteer there.  The chief guest was some comedian from “Mad About You”, a show that I had never seen and hence had never heard of him.  Debbie, who was running the orientation, said that the “emcee” was some lady whom “all the guys would know”.  So much for not making any inappropriate comments!  The cool thing this time was that it was the “30-year Anniversary” of MAW, and a “Wish Ambassador” from each of the past 30 years was being invited.  I thought that it was fantastic, till I learned that they would be placed in an adjacent room for their dinner, not in the main dining room.  I guess that the main dining room tables are reserved for the “Auxiliary Board Members” who come out of the woodwork for such events for applause and a free meal.  Frequent readers of this blog are aware of my views on these people whom I respect as much as mold in a shower. 

There would be 6 “Wish Kids” in attendance and we were told that younger ones had been chosen this time so as to sell more raffle tickets, which I am sure the auxiliary board members would buy!  We were then told about the strict dress code of black pants and black shoes...else we would be sent home.  We were shown the electronic bidding process and as volunteers, we were eligible for making bids.  We were told that if we were to make any bid and win, we would be required to buy that item.  It seems that someone had claimed in an earlier year that an accidental bid was made due to their phone “falling out of their pocket”.  I guess these are the same people whose inappropriate pictures show up on the internet because their phones fall out of their…well now there wouldn’t be any pockets then would there?  We walked about the Navy Pier facility and everything was in the same place as last year.  We were shown all the rooms and dismissed.  Another wasted evening doing something that could have been accomplished by an email.

Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, March 17, 2016; 5:00-10:00 pm

Tonight’s theme was “Geek Chic”, which is always a guest favorite, especially since it was the same week as the “Comic Book Convention”, “C2E2”.  I arrived earlier than usual and went over to chat with my fellow volunteers.  Around us people were dressing up for “Cosplay” and we saw an entire battalion of “Storm Troopers” from “Star Wars”.  This was going to be fun.  There were just 5 of us volunteering tonight, and so we would be rushing from shift to shift.  We also had 2 facilitators who would be helping out and one of them was dressed in some character called “Dr. Horrible”, someone I had never heard of.  But he was a big comic book nerd and so he and I got into the upcoming “Batman v Superman” movie as well as discussing “Marvel vs DC”.  Looking at the schedule, I was on 3 different stations this evening and also was going to attend a lecture, like last time.  This one was on “Earth Like Planets” and life on them.  Yep, it was going to be fun.

We had to get this guy to fly

We went on a walking tour next and first stop was in the “Community Classroom” and it was called “Superman”.  There was a cylinder mounted on top of a blower to form some sort of a vertical “Wind Tunnel”. The guests would use one of the “Lego figurines” that we had lying around, and also a bunch of material that was lined up in some containers - such as threads, cardboard, scissors, pinches, fabric, coffee filters, cups etc. - to build some sort of a "cape" for the figure and then pop it into the tube.  There were different tapes at various intervals on the cylinder, including a green tape at the top signifying “kryptonite”, yellow tape a few inches below signifying the “yellow sun” and then a red tape below, which was the “red sun”.  The idea was to get “Superman” to fly between the yellow and the green marks.  It looked like it would be a handful to cleanup at the end, but then someone said that we could tell the guests that for the last hour, you should only use things that you find on the floor, thus prompting them to clean up by default.  Genius!

The next station was called “Magneto”, where we had all sorts of activities with magnetism.  There was one activity where the guests had to build a contraption with a paper clip at the end of it.  The objective was to get the clip to “stand up” by placing it below a magnet, without actually touching it.  Next to it was a station with “Ferrofluid” and one could have tons of fun with it, since it is essentially magnetized fluid that organizes in a pattern around a magnet.  Next to it were a couple of battery powered gloves, that get magnetized and one could wave their hand over paper clips etc. and pick them up.  Next was some “Ferromagnetic” putty, which looked like “Silly Putty”, but “ate” magnets when you put on top of them – like quicksand.  Then we had the most interesting thing that I have seen.  It was some sort of a plate, where a magnetic disc could be suspended in the air above it.  The trick was to get the disc exactly centered, since it kept crashing down to the sides due to attraction.  You had to find the exact spot where the repulsive forces were the maximum, in order to get the ring to float in the air.  The last things at this station were long tubes made of different materials such as Copper and PVC and a study of how metallic things went down the tubes at different rates. This was because of the magnetic field that was created within the copper tube.

The final stop was a table outside "Planet Explorers", which was called “The Invisible Woman”.  As with ‘Magneto’, there were several stations, starting with the laser unit and lenses that I had worked with earlier.  The idea was to show how things can be made “invisible” by “bending” the light using lenses.  Next to it was the “Refractive Index” setup with oil and glass, where a glass beaker was being made “invisible” by immersing it in vegetable oil – another experiment that I had done before.  Then there was the “reversing arrows” station, where the arrows changed direction when you you look at them through the water.  Finally, we had a tub of water with a tiny opening that had been taped.  If you shown a laser pointer through the opening and removed the tape, the water would flow through it and the light would travel along the stream, demonstrating how data is transmitted via light in “fiber optics” – without the water of course.

My first shift was at the “Superman” station and I went down to it.  Initially no one was coming, but then a couple showed up, where the guy was wearing a “Batman” shirt.  Apparently both of them were indeed “Batman” fans, but took up the challenge of making a “Superman”.  Soon the room started filling up, including a girl who was wearing a mask and said that she remembered me from the previous time where I had done the “Dark Energy” routine with her using the “Hoberman Sphere”.  She said that she had in fact purchased one of those for her kids.  Another satisfied customer I suppose.  People were coming up with creative designs and most of the successful ones included the use of a coffee filter, which provided the best “drag”.  I was impressed with the persistence of people and many kept changing their designs – making them heavier or lighter – till they finally got their “Superman” to hover between the two colored bands.

At 7 pm I went over to my next shift, which was at the “Invisible Woman” station.  As guests came in, I would start by asking how it was that we could see each other, and the answer was of course, light.  Then I would use the Laser and show them how we could pick a point where someone could be standing, and the laser beams were coming straight at that point, meaning that the person there could see the source of the light.  As soon as you put a “concave lens” in between, the laser beams diverged and passed around the point, meaning we were changing the path of the beam and disrupting the view.  Then I would mention how telescopes worked by using a “concave” and a “convex lens”.  I would then take them through the “invisible beaker” inside the oil and explain how it was all because of the “Refractive Indices” of materials.  People are always amazed with this one.  People were also interested at seeing the arrows reversing direction when viewed through the water.  However, the last one was the most interesting, as one member would point the laser through the hole and the light would travel down the stream of water.  All the people who came here liked this demonstration and said so.

At 8 pm I went down to “Johnson Theater” for my lecture and quite a few people had assembled for it.  The lecturer, who was a professor at ‘University of Wyoming’, was incredibly engaging.   Not only did she show some data on how “exoplanets” are discovered, she also used some examples from pop-culture, such as “Star Wars”, “Avatar” etc., as examples to discuss how life could evolve on those planets, and if they could even exist.  I had a great time, as did others in the audience.  At 9 pm I went over to my final shift at “Magneto”.  One of the staff members was helping at this station and he had gotten the hovering disc to work, and it looked fantastic. Someone had also built a contraption to get the pin to stand up without touching the magnet, something which I had thought would be difficult to do.  The magnetic gloves weren’t working, but the “Ferrofluid” was.  It was also dirty and gotten all over people’s hands.  But they didn’t mind, since it was also beautiful to look at, as one could use a pipette to put the drops on a magnet and see them organize periodically as bubbles.  I took over that activity and promptly got the black stuff on my hands.  One guy came over to work on building a tower with the paper clip activity and to his credit, stuck with it for a long time and succeeded.  Kudos to him for his persistence.  At 9:30 pm we started the clean-up and packing process and did it to the best of our abilities, and I was able to leave at 10 pm.

Wish Child Namiah

Date: June 2015 – March 2016

Location: Chicago

Michelle and I had taken on another “Wish Child” and this one was a 2 and half year old girl named Namiah.  We had scheduled a visit back in May 2015, but Namiah had contracted an infection and thus was hospitalized.  She had listed “Red Velvet Cupcakes” as her favorite dessert and I had gotten some from ‘Magnolia Bakery’ the day of our visit.  Since we did not get to go, I took them home and they were absolutely terrible.  It’s a good thing we didn’t present this to her.  When the visit was scheduled for June, I solicited recommendations in the “Loop” and went over to ‘Sugar Bliss’ to get “mini red velvet cupcakes”, hoping they would be better.

I met Michelle in the “Gold Coast” neighborhood at 5 pm and we then began a long car ride to the family’s place.  It took us over an hour owing to traffic and that gave Michelle an opportunity to show me some of the presents that she had got, “Disney Princesses” like “Elsa” and “Rapunzel” – Namiah’s favorites - and “Disney Princess Shoes” in Pink and Purple - her favorite colors.  We arrived to see that Namiah’s mom and dad were at home with the grandfather. Baby Namiah was absolutely adorable.  She loved her “Elsa” doll and was hugging her throughout; and  Michelle and I fell in love with her. She was a peach and when we opened the cupcake box, she reached inside and licked the cream off her fingers.  I guess that we had passed.

 The next task was trying to get a perspective of what the wish was.  It came down to ‘Disneyworld’ and we told them about the special benefits of going through MAW and staying at “Give Kids The World” etc.  We asked for alternate locations but this was pretty much their only wish.  They had talked about “Disney Cruise”, but did not want to be on an isolated ship for such an extended period.  They also wanted some water based activity since Namiah loves water. We also said that we could also arrange a visit with “Elsa” – as long as it’s a real person in a dress and not someone in a stuffed costume, which scares her.

The "Elsa" cake

We asked about her other likes and besides “Disney”, it is some Pigs based show where the Pigs speak in a “British” accent.  It seems like she watches them with glee.  In terms of timing, they said they would prefer to go after September, when she was in “Maintenance” - a term associated with her medical treatment.  Then we filled out the paperwork and it was time to go.  Her grandfather was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station and on the way he talked about her diagnosis and the toll on Namiah’s mom and grandmother.  He is a paramedic and said that he was available to MAW if we ever needed anything. 

I went and dropped of paperwork with Amy at MAW, telling her about Namiah, and she said that they would make everything that Namiah wanted happen.  I lit a candle for her during my visit to the ‘Cathedral of St. John’s’ in New York City, during my visit in September.  Because of the family’s availability, months went by and in March 2016, Michelle and I visited Namiah with a cake made with a model of "Elsa" on top.  Michelle, as usual, had worked her magic and had managed to get it donated.  We picked up the cake at a bakery in “Ukrainian Village” and then took the long ride to Namiah’s place.  She was excited of course, but we couldn’t stay long since we were intruding on their Sunday and so left immediately after.  Just before Namiah left for ‘Disneyworld’ in April, Michelle went to drop off the “goody bag”.  I was supposed to go to their airport, but could not due to my own travel.  Based on the pictures that we saw, it looked like Namiah had a terrific time. We were glad to have helped, though this wish was all Michelle’s contribution.

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, March 02, 2016; 5:45-8:15 pm

It seemed like forever since I had been here, but it had just been a month.  I arrived to see that Marianne was here and that was great since I had missed her last time.  She was wearing a Paper “Sailors Hat” over the “hair net” and also had new glasses on.  She said that they weren't good though and that she was going to take them back.  I reminded her of our very first meeting when I had given her some advice on “contacts” and she had called me her “eye doctor”.  That was 3 years ago.  Has it really been that long?

This is what I would be making

I met one of the volunteers that I had chatted with last time regarding my travels and we exchanged notes on everywhere that we had been the past month.  She had been to Sonoma Valley and Hawaii and I had gone to Columbus and Indianapolis.  Not quite an even comparison!  There was a huge pot of “Black-Eyed Peas” and I carried it to the cooking area and put it on the stove.  Chef Dan instructed me to add 2 pitchers of water and then proceeded to add several spices, explaining all the time why he was adding them.  He really is a very good teacher.  I noticed that there were several pieces of "Turkey Neck" inside, which would eventually give the beans the desired flavor.  I hope the guests aren’t expecting them to be vegetarian!

Chef’s wife was next to me, making cheese sauce, which was going on top of broccoli.  I was stirring the pot and behind me some volunteers were chopping onions and green peppers.  One of the younger volunteers came over to sauté peppers and onions which then went into my peas.  Chef Dan was showing him how to do the one handed flip using the pan, saying that it took lot of practice and lot of mess, at which his wife nodded.  Chef encouraged me to taste and I said that it needed more salt.  He said, “Yes Chef” and added salt and some more spices, telling me to taste at each stage.  Next to me a volunteer was grilling dozens of large sausages.  Marianne looked at those and said, “That’s a really large sausage. I must get a picture”.  And I muttered, “That’s what she said”.  Yep, real mature.

The peas were almost ready and Chef Dan continued to impart wisdom, saying that you can never overcook beans and all how they breakdown their complex carbohydrates.  He asked me to move the giant pot to the table nearby and scoop out everything into a deep pan.  He also asked me to “fish out” the turkey necks and if we had time, we could shred it and add the meat back to the beans.  Marianne was giving her speech and mentioned that she had reached out to ‘Zagat’ and wanted us to be the first ever “Zagat rated” soup kitchen.  She also asked us to always wear hair net, aprons and gloves since we may be inspected at any time. 

Hannah was here and wearing a “Free Hugs” apron, like her brother during my first visit all those years ago.  I asked for a hug and inquired how she was doing.  She said much better today, which was great to hear.  The menu was “hot dog” with the sausage inside, topped with grilled onions; black-eyed peas and broccoli with cheese sauce.  There was also a plate of desserts which would be distributed towards the end.  I helped distribute the individual salad bowls – thank you - and then plated a bun with sausage in it; passing it down for peas and broccoli.  The room was closed off on the left for “nurse’s office” – since the usual area was under construction – and that made the room appear full.  But we were actually full, based on the plates served and the second’s line. After that I helped stack chairs and put away tables and then it was time to leave.  It had been great to see everyone again and also get a cooking class from the Chef.