No One Goes Hungry-Holiday Season Stage it Forward
Standing at the corner of 6th and Lamar by Whole Foods, looking at the peach in my hand and waiting for the light to change, my daydreaming is interrupted by the shout of "GET A JOB!"Startled, I look up and see a man in a car glaring at the homeless person standing near me. The homeless person has a sign that says "Dreaming of Mexican Food". The peach in my hand seems heavy now and I walk over and give it to him. "Thanks man...God bless you" he says quietly. I tell him, "same to you" and mention that he should go to Wooldridge Park by the Downtown Austin Library around 6:00 and he can get a free meal from the Mobile Loaves & Fishes Truck. He says he will check it out and thanks me again.
The light changes and as I walk across I see a young woman in one of those small new "Ultimate Driving Machines" as she leans from the window and shouts, "Hey, why are you helping that bum!"I stifle the urge to say something and put my hand in my pocket to keep from waving at her with one finger. I am amazed at that thinking but not surprised. There are many people who have the idea that they want to be able to succeed without any help from anyone and that is laudable but not realistic because we are not all given the same opportunities. There is nothing wrong with concept that we can all achieve anything through our own efforts. My problem is with those who so arrogantly advocate this in blogs, books, online and in conversation without ever understanding that many people have never had the same opportunities from the very beginning and at the same time, taking for granted what they have!
We have all heard of the "Puritan Work Ethic" and though admirable it is not always realistic or applicable. I was raised in an affluent family (though I was not aware of it as a child because people were not valued by their income or what they owned) and with the same hard work ideology. My father was a strong proponent of self reliability and working for a living but he also believed that people had a responsibility to take care of those less fortunate. This came from his Christian back ground that he practiced as well as preached (which is why I never won the hypocrisy argument with him). He was in the grocery business in West Texas and I remember as a child accompanying him to the Salvation Army at Christmas to help hand out turkeys and bags of groceries to poor families in the community. As a child, I was uncomfortable at first but my Dad would remind me that we were doing something to make the lives of those who did without a little better. Even in the last years of his life he continued to donate money and volunteer with The Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, The Adult Literacy Project and Habitat for Humanity. I will forever remember his words, "We live in a country that is so rich and so powerful, there is no reason anyone should ever go hungry. We have a moral obligation to share our blessings with the less fortunate".
About ten years ago, I joined a group from AvenueOneProperties and began to volunteer with a new community outreach organization that began here in Austin, Texas called Mobile Loaves & Fishes. Mobile Loaves & Fishes , The brainchild of Alan Graham, with the mission to provide food, clothing, and dignity to our brothers and sisters in need. They now accomplish this mission through the use of 12 catering trucks that go out onto the city streets of Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, Providence, and Nashville every night of the week. Now with almost 10,000 volunteers, it started with the hard work of a few volunteers and a single supply truck.
I have helped on the make ready crew preparing food and as a truck driver since I first joined in 2000 and in the last few years have worked witha small crew of friends to deliver meals once a month.We have a good time together Our favorite stop is WooldridgePark by the Austin Downtown Library. My company and my fellow truck crew members save up toiletry items, clothing and other things that that are needed. The irony is not lost on us that we all save bath items from our vacations and often hand out soap and shampoo from such luxurious destinations as the Four Seasons - Bora Bora and other Hotels from across the globe and I even gave out samples from Plaza-Athenee in Paris but soap is soap no matter the source. There is an online sign up for the volunteers to "reserve" a location and for awhile it got a bit competitive. I was on the phone complaining to one of my fellow volunteers about the fact that someone beat us to the punch on "our stop" and my wife gently teased me by saying, "Well now...you are upset because someone else got YOUR homeless people???" I reluctantly laughed and had to agree that was more than absurd wasn't it? Although we DO still compete and manage to get the library stop as often as possible...
I want to take a moment and thank everyone who have made our efforts possible; Ruth Dore', volunteer coordinator, who patiently herds all of the volunteers on a daily basis, Tracy Rodenborn and Don Haynes of St. Michaels Academy who along with students have prepared the food for the last 5 years. Tracy just had a second baby so this is a shout out to her! I also want to thank my friends and fellow members of truck team 31; A.J. Lindow, Liz Saieh, Sandy Park, Stephani Wolfe and Cathleen Butler (Pictured in the photo at left)! I always enjoy our time together and look forward to going out with y'all every month!
I just finished a conversation with my brother about his involvement with Mobile Loaves and Fishes and I was reminded of the desperate need of so many these days. Though I wrote this post awhile back, it's as relevant today as it was then. Last week on my run with our Mobile Loaves and Fishes group, the crowds of homeless and hungry were larger than ever. Alhough Austin and Texas in general has missed much of the trauma of the recent economic downturn it's still affected our city and state. I think people sometimes have a knee jerk reaction to the plight of others and until you actually take a closer look at some of our problems, it is impossible to understand without judging. Look around and see where you might have a chance to contribute, I guarantee you will receive much more than you give!
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Great Job Russell! There will be a huge need for helping others before our economy gets turned around.