Fried Chicken for the People

I just came back from serving lunch to the San Francisco homeless people as part of the Glide Church - fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, cooked broccoli, bread and salad. Fried chicken on Thursdays is the most popular lunch served, especially the last Thursday of the month when those on fixed incomes are in between stipends. First, we put together cups with little packets of salt and pepper and a napkin, then we were assigned the food we would serve. My job was to ladel the gravy over the mashed potatoes. With every ladel of gravy, I thought to myself that this is nourishing someone who really needs it and every ladel was dalloped over the mashed potatoes like a work of art with love knowing that someone was going to enjoy this today to the last drop. We must've served nearly a thousand people this afternoon, and Glide does this three meals a day everyday!

What perspective this experience gave me! In between servings, I stole glances at the population we were serving as they gobbled down their meals hungrily and appreciatively - people of the everyday, people who could easily be you and me. Some of the regular volunteer staff were part of a program to obtain on-the-job training to get themselves off the streets and into a better life - wow, good for them, good luck to them. One silent elderly lady with the sweetest constant expression who has volunteered everyday for years known as "mom" places a fork on every tray as it passes by. One man thanked us all and hurried away, but really, gosh, it was so worth it to do this, to give back to the community and to be a part of something I don't normally do. A little community service goes a long way as we all have something to share with others who are less fortunate who need our help. Just by doing something out of my box like this for a few hours, whatever drama that was going through my head really seems like a drop in the bucket right now - and we enjoyed some chicken too after our work was done!