Going Away Dinner

In lieu of our regular community meal, our friends at the Inn treated us to a dinner Monday night at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Fr. Michael read a hilarious poem he wrote about the "failed man," relating how Mark had tried to get everyone to be financially organized and have a budget. They presented us with gifts including a San Damiano cross (a replica of the one in the church in Assisi) and a framed photograph of the mural that is on the back wall of the St. Francis Inn, as shown in the picture above. It will be a wonderful reminder of our service here. As our time grows shorter, we are trying to withstand the heat, clean all the appliances, and pack. In addition, they are extracting their last pound of flesh from us--Mark was a coordinator yesterday morning, I coordinated the evening shift, Mark coordinated again this evening, and I will be assistant cook tomorrow while he does pickups. Friday we both will be at the Inn, just helping get everything ready for the meal. After a stop in Raleigh Saturday night, we will be home on Sunday.

Cooking for 321

I (Thea) decided last week that before I left, I wanted to be the cook for a meal. I have been assistant cook about 30 times this year, and in some cases even given the task to finish cooking when the cook had to leave early. I asked for my assignment to be on a "long" day, so that I would have plenty of time to prepare, and also when there were enough volunteers available so that I would have help with chopping and clean up.

When the schedule came out on Monday, and I was assigned as the cook for the Thursday meal. My first task was to go into the freezer and see what sort of meat and frozen food was available. There was a large amount of Italian sausage and lots of frozen french fries, so I decide to make sausage, pepper and onions, fries, fruit cocktail, and have optional tossed salad for those who like a healthier side dish. Of course, there would also be dessert and drink.

Wednesday I got the meat out to thaw and started looking at the bread as it arrived for suitable rolls. Early Thursday I laid out the cutting boards and peppers, so that as soon as Mass was over I could get started. I had two high school juniors, Maggie and Grace, as my sous chefs. We spent about two hours chopping the peppers and onions, unpacking the meat, and mixing the canned fruit for the fruit cocktail. I have been working at the Catholic Workers garden in our neighborhood, and the head gardener brought me several beautiful heads of leaf lettuce, just picked Thursday morning. It was enough for 100 side salads.

I had no idea how long the fries needed to be cooked, or at what temperature, so around 2:00 I put a pan of fries in the oven. Maggie's job was to do a taste test every 3 minutes starting with 12 minutes to determine when the fries were cooked through. It seemed 25 minutes were necessary. Also at 2 I began frying the peppers and onions in the tilt skillet. Once they were finished, I started frying the sausage. I wanted to have 200 sausages fried by the time the meal began at 4:30. In between frying, I had Maggie and Grace get the "side doors" ready--take out orders of the meal for guests that weren't allowed to eat inside or that had family members that couldn't come to the Inn for the meal.

I had 3 goals for the meal. First, I wanted the guests to have tasty food that they would like. A good indication of the quality of the meal is what is returned on the plate to the dishwasher. I could tell virtually no meat or fries were being rejected. Secondly, I wanted to have enough food for the guests. I had predicted 325 guests; we had 321. I had actually cooked 370 sausages, so I knew I was safe. Thirdly, I wanted to be able to keep up for the demand for food throughout the meal. Doing this can be tricky, because I wanted to keep serving hot food rather than cook everything ahead and then serve it. I wanted the food at 5:45 to be as fresh and hot as the food at 4:30. I was able to accomplish that goal as well.

Because I had made so much extra food, I decided to put some of the leftovers into takeout bowls and distribute it to guests at the end of the meal. Apparently the meal was too popular and a very large crowd assembled when it was announced there would be "seconds." At this point I only had Maggie as my assistant, and we were working as fast as we could to get the food to the door for distribution. However, by 6:08 the 25 take out bowls were on a cart to be given out. The only thing left to do was to clean the multitude of pans I had used and get the tilt skillet back to its original pristine condition.

I thanked my assistants, then went home and ate my supper. It was NOT sausage, pepper and onions!

"Final" Fundraising Report

This is my "penultimate" blog. A week from Saturday, Thea and I will be leaving St. Francis Inn and returning to our "real lives" back in Hickory. Each of us is planning to do one last blog next week evaluating our time here, and so you have that to look forward to (Be still my beating heart......!). However, before my "swan song", I did want to give you an accounting of our fundraising efforts, to date.

You will remember that I was appointed to the Franciscan Volunteer Ministries (FVM) Associate Board last fall. The program has been supported for 20 years by the Holy Name Province of Franciscan Friars, but because of the economic downturn, the Province had to cut its funding by $75,000 per year. Fortunately, there was a budget surplus in the FVM's account which will get it (barely) through the 2009/2010 fiscal year ending on June 30th.

Upon its formation last summer, the Associate Board was charged with two tasks. First, we had to initiate a fundraising effort where none existed before. This is not a trivial matter. The Friars definitely have adopted St. Francis' attitude that "God will provide" and for 20 years have depended entirely on charity, and more than that, have NEVER asked directly for money. Obviously, that would now have to change. Second, the Associate Board would obviously have to try to raise $75,000 (minimum) to keep the FVM program going during the 2010/11 fiscal year (beginning on July 1st).

My first Board meeting was in January, and I was surprised to learn that not much had been done to address either of these issues. Yes, the board had met in September and had discussed various ideas, but no one had moved forward with any of them. After I got over my surprise, I realized that this was a perfect calling for me. (Father Michael put it another way: "God has sent you to us in our hour of need!") As various ideas were presented or reviewed from previous meetings, I would immediately challenge people (tactfully) with a question like: "OK, sounds like a good idea. Who would like to take this on, and what is our first step in the process?" This helped to focus the discussion. At the end of the meeting, I asked: "So, what is our list of "to-do's" for the next meeting and who's responsible for each?"

It took a couple of meetings, but fairly quickly, the board organized a letter writing campaign to alumni of the FVM program. Father Michael (kicking and screaming!) signed the letters and wrote personal notes to each recipient. (Father absolutely HATES asking for money! He views it as "un-Franciscan", whatever that means.) At the March Board meeting, one of our members made a challenge grant of $12,000 --- if we could raise $12,000, he would give $12,000. Everyone was really excited now: we just needed to get going.

Next, I teamed up with another member of the Associate Board member to give a half-day fundraising seminar to train key staff and FVM alums on the art of asking for money. We gave our "FVM: Survive and Thrive Day" on Saturday, April 10th. At the end of the session, each of 16 participants committed to writing letters and calling their contacts. Phase I of our fundraising was done. I waited a couple of weeks before asking Katie Sullivan, our FVM Program Director, if we'd gotten any responses. "Why yes", she responded, "so far we've gotten in $2600!"
I was amazed, because you have to remember that most of the FVM alums are, by definition, poor. They work in the non-profit sector or for churches/Catholic schools. To raise $2600 in only two weeks from this group was phenomenal.

Our next task was to solicit the FVM Associate Board itself. Encouraged by our success with the alums, I ghost wrote a letter for Sister Kathleen, the Chair, and sent it out. Finally, I wrote ten letters to my family, Thea's family, and our immediate friends. As I mailed the letters, I said a silent prayer because this was new territory for me. In all my years of fundraising, I had never directly asked my family or Thea's family for money.

In mid-May, I got a wonderful surprise. The Maryvale Sisters had organized a "walk-a-thon" at the daycare to benefit the St. Francis Inn's FVM Program. Sister Mary Norman had told me in February that this would be happening, but I had really forgotten about it. On May 21st, we received a large envelope (registered mail, no less!) from Maryvale. I wondered why the Sisters were writing us. Upon opening it, we found delightful pictures of the "walk-a-thon" plus a check for $4,232! "Holy smokes, I thought. Every child must have walked 10 miles to raise that kind of money." Thea and I were astonished.

I took the check over to the FVM office. After the "hooting and hollering" was over, I asked Katie if we'd gotten any responses to our various mailings and she coyly said "Father Michael wants to wait until the Board meeting (scheduled for June 10th) before we give out the numbers!"

So, I waited in suspense. I wondered if the alums were continuing to send money. I wondered if the Associate Board (other than Thea and I who, of course, had sent our check the day we received our letter!!) would give. I wondered if my friends and family would respond (or if, for that matter, they were still speaking to me.)

Finally, the day arrived for the Associate Board meeting. We reviewed all of the fundraising plans to date, dealt with some governance issues, some accounting issues, and then some scheduling issues for future meetings. Finally, the moment arrived when the fundraising report was handed out. Breathlessly, we looked at the numbers:

From FVM Alums: 21 gifts totaling $4470
From Associate Bd.: 10 gifts totaling $1877
From "Friends" of Alums and Board members: 26 gifts totaling $8,933
From Matching Gift: $12,000
From Father Michael's "contacts" and family: $45,600

TOTAL: $72,880

And the campaign continues!!! We have lots more planned including pulpit talks at Franciscan parishes, home parties, and even a special event. These will, we hope, insure the sustainability of the FVM program for not only next year but many years into the future.

To all of you who responded to me (I received 8 "yeses" from my 10 letters!), I say a heartfelt "Thank you!" To all of the Associate Board members and to the FVM alums who gave generously, I tip my hat.

But to Father Michael who HATES fundraising, I say: "I am never going to believe you again!!!!"

....just kidding!

The Block Party

For the past few weeks, the guests have been asking "When is the block party?" Under pain of excommunication, all of us have been sworn to secrecy and have answered, "Sometime this summer." Today was the long-awaited event. Right after Mass, all of the staff plus a group from western Pennsylvania and some local volunteers went out into the street. We blocked the end of the street with sawhorses and put all of the tables from the dining room into the street. Father Pat, a friar from Greenville, SC arrived with some parish teenagers and set up his sound system. He was our deejay for the day. Mark drove to Boston Market to pick up 600 pieces of barbecue chicken and cornbread. We also had potato salad, watermelon, ice cream sandwiches and soda. At 11:30 we opened up for food and the music began. Some of the guests would rather dance than eat. And dance they did--to old time rock and roll, the Macarena, electric slide, the twist, Michael Jackson imitations to "Thriller" and even to the chicken dance.

In addition to the food and music, we had face painting, pony rides for the children, clowns, floating duck game and a water balloon toss. About 2:30 the rain came down, but it didn't end the party. People kept on dancing in the rain or standing under the tents set up along the street. It actually helped to cool us down since the temperature was over 90 with the humidity factor.

What was so cool about the day was to see all the guests and the staff having so much fun. The friars and sisters were dancing with the guests, the young college students were playing hula hoops with the children, the friar deejay was involving lots of people in the music, and 92 year old Patrick was passing out forks and napkins. St. Francis Inn is always a beacon of hope here in Kensington, but for a few hours this Sunday, the entire street was transformed into a festival where all of God's children could have fun together.

Addiction and God

Since we only have two weeks before we depart, Mark and I are going through hundreds of pictures we have stored on our computer. We are trying to put together a slide show that will "tell the story" of our 10 months here at the Inn. As we looked at pictures of the guests, we realized that there were several key people that we had not photographed. Slowly, we are taking their pictures as we serve the evening or morning meals.
One of the things we are trying to do is have pictures of individuals that represent the various categories of guests. There are the senior citizens, who come here to get a hot meal, stretch their limited social security checks, and interact with other people. There are the families, mostly headed by single moms, who are trying to supplement their food stamp money. We have some of the single men who are working poor--day laborers, delivery men, restaurant workers and others who are not in a union and may not be working 40 hour weeks.
By far, the largest category of the guests is that of addicts. So many of the people we serve are addicted to alcohol or drugs, usually heroin and/or cocaine. For example, yesterday a young man was sitting on our steps. I was exiting the house on my way to the Inn to get some aluminum foil. He jumped up and stood aside. When I returned, he asked if it was okay for him to sit on the steps. I told him it was fine, and thanks for asking. He then complimented me on the way I had held my temper when a woman had berated me while I was doing the lineup the day before. I mentioned that the guests had been a little wild that day, and perhaps it was due to the heat. He responded by saying that the heat did cause behavioral changes. I could tell from his speech that he was an educated person and asked him about it. He told me his name was Frank, that he was a graduate of Rutgers, and he had recently completed a drug rehab program. He had goals and plans that he had made during his time in the program. He thought he would be able to stay with his mother and get back on his feet. Unfortunately, she had not taken him in, and he had been on the street for 7 days. Without any support, he had slipped right back into his drug habit of heroin. He hoped to go back to the drug rehab and start again.
I told him I would pray for him, and he said that would be very good.
We have heard this same scenario so many times during our stay. Sometimes the addict is a young woman who left home, began using cocaine or heroin, and supports her habit as a prostitute. It could be a veteran who came back from the battlefield, couldn't find work, and began spending his days drinking. Or it might be a young man like Frank who started taking drugs in college as recreation, but soon found that his whole life was focused on the next fix.
What sort of ending is there for these stories? A few have happy endings; the addicts get in a program, go to meetings of AA, move away from Kensington, get a job, live one day at a time. Others are sober for a few days, a few months, even years, and then an event occurs that triggers a return to the drug or alcohol. After some period of time, they start all over again. Unfortunately, more than a few end up dying from an overdose, AIDS, liver failure, or violence.
Every day at Mass, someone prays for the addicts of Kensington. I can only add my prayers to theirs.

Gratefulness and Generosity

This morning at Mass, Father Michael preached on the gospel of the feeding of the 5000. It's a really familiar story, one that all of us can recite from memory, but, as usual, Father brought out facets of the scripture that I hadn't thought of.



He began with the difference between Christ's view of the world and that of the apostles. Faced with the problem of feeding a massive crowd with so few resources (5 loaves and 2 small fish), the apostles despaired. They focused on the negative: how can we feed so many people with so little food? It's impossible! We need to get these people out of here and have them get food for themselves. We wash our hands of this problem!



Christ, on the other hand, gave thanks for what had been provided -- the very same loaves and fish dismissed as insufficient by His followers -- and the rest is history. The gifts at hand, appreciated and treasured for their goodness, were multiplied beyond all "reasonable" expectations. It's the same story with all of us. In life, God provides us with all manner of talents, resources and gifts as well as some faults and imperfections. We can either look at our glass as "half empty" or "half full". It's our choice, but clearly the Lord would prefer that we take the latter approach, just as He did.



Father's second point concerned generosity. Most of us, when faced with a shortage, choose to hoard. When the economy takes a dive, we reduce our charitable giving. When there was a gas shortage in America, what did all of us do? That's right, we rushed out and filled up all of our cars, even if we weren't actually planning on going anywhere. If we have too little food, we certainly don't hand out what we have to the poor -- we go shopping to replenish and refill "our barns with grain", just like the rich man in the scripture. Certainly, it's "natural" to provide for oneself first -- or is it? When Jesus was faced with the prospect of feeding 5000 people with only 5 loaves and 2 fish, he not only gave thanks for the resources, he GAVE EVERYTHING AWAY! Unbelievable, but true....and look what happened, his generosity was rewarded so that at the end of the meal, the scraps filled 12 baskets.



What would the world be like if all of us truly took to heart these two lessons? Or, better yet, what would it be like if I took to heart these two lessons? Change begins with all of us individually. This week, I resolve to be more grateful for all the blessings I have and more generous in gifting them to others.

In the Heat of the Night (and Day)

It has been very hot here--in the 90's every day for 5 days. Since there is no air conditioning in the staff housing nor in the Inn, it is an effort to be energetic. We are not sleeping well because it is so hot, and the guests are probably sleeping even less than we are. As a result, tempers are short. The guests complain about standing in line to eat, standing in line to go to the bathroom, and in the case of those staying in shelters, standing in line to get a bed at night. Sunday a fight broke out during the meal in the dining room. The men involved were both mentally ill, and Mark and Father Michael quickly separated the two and escorted the initiator out of the building. Nevertheless, it disrupted an otherwise tranquil meal.
As the weather has warmed, there seems to be more needy people, and also more crime taking place. This past Sunday, someone went upstairs during the meal and stole the bags of Sr. Mary and Sr. Leslie. Not only did they lose their important identity cards like driver's license and Medicare cards, but each had notebooks with information needed for administration of the Inn. Someone checked nearby trash cans for the bags, but nothing turned up. Of course the credit cards were immediately canceled and new Medicare cards ordered. This morning a minor miracle occurred when one of the friars discovered the bags in the meditation room of the chapel. Apparently the thief had gone through the bags in the quiet chapel before removing one of the wallets. Everything else was intact in the bags.
In addition to the effects on humans, the heat has contributed to an increase in pests. When one enters the Inn at night and turns on the light, the floor is covered with skittering roaches. The smell of warm garbage in our trash yard has attracted other pests. I was sitting outside on Saturday in our backyard when I heard a sound. I looked up, and an eight-inch rat was about a foot in front of me! It sauntered under the fence and was in the trash yard. I may be an animal lover, but this was not "Brother Rat." In fact, it was a very mangy and scary looking rat. The fact that it was out during the day and had portions of its fur missing made me think it might be a very sick rat. I pointed it out again on Sunday to Karen, who is in charge of things like pest control. At the time it was right by our kitchen door. No offense to St. Francis, but this is one of God's creatures that I can do without.