Loose Ends

Two turtledoves spotted at the Dollar Store today. One, looked a little worse for the wear. We could relate. ...

THE MORNING AFTER:  None of us were exactly springing out of bed this morning. We were all pretty tired from yesterday's events.

Once we got our acts together, we headed over to do a little post-event follow up and clean up.  First we had to find some items we left behind in yesterday's hubbub. Fortunately, that didn't take long.

Then, we set about stuffing handmade cards into care packages of toiletries which will be distributed to neighbors in need.

Next up, it was time for the kids' math lesson for the day - computing how many pounds of food had been collected in a school food drive.

We sorted through the boxes, noting the ounces listed on packaging and keeping a tally as we went. CJ used a calculator, Annabelle used crayon on paper. Fortunately, their numbers matched in the end. 

With 79 pounds of food in tow, we set out to find the Queen Anne Food Bank. The magic of Google let us know it was housed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We knew that was immediately west of Seattle Center, and just south of Key Arena. We've been by the church there lots of times, but none of us recalled ever seeing a food bank there before. Today, we actually went into the parking lot between church buildings and the kids spied the food bank sign straight off.

We parked and approached the entrance. It sported a big CLOSED sign, and another sign said they weren't open on Fridays, specifically. Bummer. We were about to head away in (temporary) defeat, when a woman came up the walkway carrying a box of food. She showed us a bell (in the center of the door on its lower half), and she twisted it. Almost instantaneously, a gentleman popped out of the building and greeted her by name. Lucky for us, we were able to slide on in with our 79 pounds of stuff right behind her. Mission accomplished! And it was only 10:30 a.m.!

Here are a couple of 'leftover' photos from yesterday. 

Look at Annabelle multi-task! Grabbing a snack while cleaning up post-luncheon. (We covered the tables in brown/kraft paper, and used different sized paper bags to hold items (cutlery, bread, art materials and more). It was inexpensive and worked well.  

Here's a purposely blurry shot of a very crowded room, with people enjoying nearly 20 different kinds of amazing soups, stews, and chilis while students took turn on the stage sharing what they'd learned about homeless and hungry over the past several weeks. 

At the moment, Annabelle was sharing information about the book her art class is reading, "A Single Shard," about an orphan in 12-century Korea facing homelessness and hunger.

CJ shared information about a display he'd made about the documentary, "Dive!" It follows filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and his friends as they Dumpster dive in at Los Angeles’ supermarkets. (If you want to view it, check with your local library. For instance, the Seattle Public Library has multiple copies of the DVD, and it can be watched online for free at https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2725965030_dive (all you need is a library card). “Dive!” can be purchased on Amazon Instant video, iTunes, and the film’s Web site for $7.99 (divethefilm.com).