PHONE HOME: This afternoon, Annabelle and I were back to work at the Helen B. Ratcliff House on First Hill. A friend introduced us to the transitional home for women between prison and their family home, and we've been volunteering there since December or so.
Today, we updated their big wall calendar for March, and we made over another phone booth.
In a dark corner and wrapped in simulated wood grain before, it's much better and brighter with the butterflies!
TEEN FEED: Saturday we were extra super busy. The kids spent a few hours at the local library test driving a few food-related board games, and then that evening, we were in the University District, heading up a meal to 40-some hungry, homeless youth and young adults.
Annabelle made a super cute menu poster for the event. The shelter's directors loved it!
On a cold winter night, families from our group gathered for a common goal: We came together to provide a warm, hearty, healthy meal to dozens of homeless youth and young adults in our city.
The evening of the meal service, volunteer families met at the shelter, a modest space in a basement in our city’s University district. The night was just the culmination of many hours of planning and prep, including formulating a functional and fun menu, tapping into people who could donate money or food, and offsite prepping in volunteers’ homes.
The evening of the event, we met on-site, ready for the challenge, complete with poster-sized “to do” lists on the wall and tasks assigned to our small army of compassionate volunteers! Our hours of preparation paid off; When the doors opened to let the hungry, homeless youth inside the dining hall, we were ready to serve!
The 40-plus diners who joined us that evening were so hungry – and so grateful! They were thrilled when they saw that it wasn’t a one-size-fits-all dining experience. Rather, it was more restaurant-style, with multiple, nutrition-packed entrée options, including vegan and gluten free choices. The majority came back for seconds, and many opted for thirds – or more! And the hungry young adults were stoked to have more than a half-dozen different home-made dessert options. 😊
We found the “many hands make light work” adage to be true. All told, the people who made this happen ranged in age from 5 to 70-plus. Watching the students in our group engage the homeless youth was especially inspiring. So many smiles were shared that evening. The experience didn’t just fill bellies – it warmed hearts.
What made this project a success for our organization was the fact that so many helped in so many ways. Some contributed food toward our effort. Others made monetary donations. Others spent hours planning and coordinating volunteers, and on the night of the event, multiple families showed up to prepare and serve the meal at the shelter. It was the epitome of a team effort.
Our group participates in this meal service for the homeless monthly, but having this opportunity to participate in the Disney Parks, Points of Light, All for Good and generationOn program made this month’s go-round extra special, as our non-profit has the chance to benefit from the generous donation of Disney Theme Park tickets for our community service. Talk about a win-win!
I know some of our blog readers supported the cause. Thank you so very much!
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