Feeding the homeless
Those that attended started the day (November 16th) by attending mass. What better way to start the day that was going to be filled with helping to do God's work!
After mass, the group walked across the parking lot to start preparing the meals that would be taken to the Tuolumne River Regional Park (the park with the train is how most people know it) to feed the homeless. We all thought that everything was going to work out perfectly, but God had other things in mind. Some of the leadership had spent a good amount of time at FoodMax earlier in the week purchasing the food for the meeting. We learned that shopping on an empty stomach is not a good idea. The pastries and other goodies kept our mind off of all the materials that would be needed. So, when we showed up to the kitchen, we realized that minor things like cooking oil and cleaning materials were still needed. We also forgot to remind people to bring mixing bowls. Luckily, we were saved by the hall manager, Rick Dinubilo, who just happened to be going to the kitchen for other of his duties (he is the primary cook for St. Joseph's Bread and the Knights of Columbus as well). He was able to help out by opening the Knights' closet and getting us mixing bowls and other needed items. He was also able to remind us how to turn on the oven. Who would have thought that a commercial oven needs to have the overhead fan turned on in order to work? Well, we were told that, so maybe better, who would have remembered . . . . .?
We prepared breakfast burritos: ham and eggs, potato and eggs, and chorizo and eggs. We also made hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were a big hit! We ended up with a lot more eggs than we really needed, but ended up donating the extra eggs to the Filipino Health Committee who was going to have their Longsilog Breakfast the following morning.
Traveling to the park should have been relatively easy. We all piled into four vehicles (some couldn't stay for the trip to the park even though they helped in the kitchen). Unfortunately, no one thought to make sure that there was someone with a cell phone number for at least one person in every vehicle. The caravan of cars started out well, but one actually ended up getting lost! :<(
Feeding the homeless went very well. They were all very appreciative of our efforts and there were no problems at all. After visiting the homeless at the Tuolumne River Park we still had some food left over so it was agreed that we head over to La Loma Park where we were able to share them with even more in need. Although there was another group already at the opposite end of the park, distributing food as well, our leftovers were more than welcomed.
In debriefing the event, the Leadership group has already decided that this is something that they would like to do again (obviously without the hiccups). Don't be surprised if you see another invitation from ¡YA! to come help feed the homeless!
Included here are some of the comments that were shared by those who were present:
"Today was really good for me. Helping prepare the food for the homeless made me see how blessed I am to have 3+ meals a day without worries. This was such a great opportunity to share what I have. We gave a lot of smiles with our burritos, cookies and hot chocolate but we also received many in return. I saw happy people who didn't have a roof over their heads. How many times have I worn a downcast face when I couldn't get what I 'needed'?"
"It was amazing to be able to be the hands of Jesus in a very small way and help those in need in our community. I feel that I got more than those we helped did."
"We have to do this again. It made me happy to be doing something so real. We are all God's children so each person we meet is one of our family. Naturally we care for family members and keep them in our prayers. Today's corporal works of mercy of feeding the hungry was God's way of reminding me that my family and friends are not where loving and caring stops."
"Thank you, St. Joe's YA!, for the fun time together, for the laughs and for giving me the opportunity to be truly grateful for God's gifts."
After mass, the group walked across the parking lot to start preparing the meals that would be taken to the Tuolumne River Regional Park (the park with the train is how most people know it) to feed the homeless. We all thought that everything was going to work out perfectly, but God had other things in mind. Some of the leadership had spent a good amount of time at FoodMax earlier in the week purchasing the food for the meeting. We learned that shopping on an empty stomach is not a good idea. The pastries and other goodies kept our mind off of all the materials that would be needed. So, when we showed up to the kitchen, we realized that minor things like cooking oil and cleaning materials were still needed. We also forgot to remind people to bring mixing bowls. Luckily, we were saved by the hall manager, Rick Dinubilo, who just happened to be going to the kitchen for other of his duties (he is the primary cook for St. Joseph's Bread and the Knights of Columbus as well). He was able to help out by opening the Knights' closet and getting us mixing bowls and other needed items. He was also able to remind us how to turn on the oven. Who would have thought that a commercial oven needs to have the overhead fan turned on in order to work? Well, we were told that, so maybe better, who would have remembered . . . . .?
We prepared breakfast burritos: ham and eggs, potato and eggs, and chorizo and eggs. We also made hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were a big hit! We ended up with a lot more eggs than we really needed, but ended up donating the extra eggs to the Filipino Health Committee who was going to have their Longsilog Breakfast the following morning.
Traveling to the park should have been relatively easy. We all piled into four vehicles (some couldn't stay for the trip to the park even though they helped in the kitchen). Unfortunately, no one thought to make sure that there was someone with a cell phone number for at least one person in every vehicle. The caravan of cars started out well, but one actually ended up getting lost! :<(
Feeding the homeless went very well. They were all very appreciative of our efforts and there were no problems at all. After visiting the homeless at the Tuolumne River Park we still had some food left over so it was agreed that we head over to La Loma Park where we were able to share them with even more in need. Although there was another group already at the opposite end of the park, distributing food as well, our leftovers were more than welcomed.
In debriefing the event, the Leadership group has already decided that this is something that they would like to do again (obviously without the hiccups). Don't be surprised if you see another invitation from ¡YA! to come help feed the homeless!
Included here are some of the comments that were shared by those who were present:
"Today was really good for me. Helping prepare the food for the homeless made me see how blessed I am to have 3+ meals a day without worries. This was such a great opportunity to share what I have. We gave a lot of smiles with our burritos, cookies and hot chocolate but we also received many in return. I saw happy people who didn't have a roof over their heads. How many times have I worn a downcast face when I couldn't get what I 'needed'?"
"It was amazing to be able to be the hands of Jesus in a very small way and help those in need in our community. I feel that I got more than those we helped did."
"We have to do this again. It made me happy to be doing something so real. We are all God's children so each person we meet is one of our family. Naturally we care for family members and keep them in our prayers. Today's corporal works of mercy of feeding the hungry was God's way of reminding me that my family and friends are not where loving and caring stops."
"Thank you, St. Joe's YA!, for the fun time together, for the laughs and for giving me the opportunity to be truly grateful for God's gifts."