DAMES, DO-GOOD and DRINKS – Guest Blog by Jean Pedigo
Last Summer I was in San Francisco for an amazing birthday day event. My good-hearted friend arranged for about 20 of us to serve meals to the homeless at Glide Memorial Church. She has been a long-time volunteer there and was hugging staff and completely in her element. A few of us were not so comfortable. That afternoon we served over 500 lunches at a break-neck speed, while the staff bellowed out orders. It was orderly, yet chaotic at the same time. After we ripped off our hair nets, cleaned the food off of our shoes, we left that world and crossed the street to a hip bar, where she had set up a fun, late afternoon of food, drinks, games and good cheer. Two hours of good-will, followed by a few hours of good cheer. I was blown away by what a great idea this was and vowed to do something similar for my birthday.
I have been a Partner to must! charities for almost two years, and have been able to see close-up how much impact they have in our community. ECHO Homeless Shelter in Atascadero was a recipient last year of a 4 year, half million dollar collaboration with must! charities. I set my sights on ECHO. I reached out to Kyle Wommack of must! charities, as she volunteers there regularly and she directed me to Mimi who coordinates the volunteers. ECHO serves dinner nightly at 5pm until 6pm, with an expected clientele of approximately 75. When you take on an evening with your group, it is understood that you will provide the entire meal – prepped ahead of time. So my birthday plan started percolating in my brain. I sent out an invitation to about 40 female friends, entitled it “Dames, Do-good and Drinks”. Knowing that many would not be able to attend all parts of the day, I gave the option to volunteer where they could. From 1 to 4pm I planned the dinner prep at my house. I then gave the option to bake cookies to those who could not make any part of the day. Those were either dropped off at my house or at ECHO. From 4:30 – 6pm I gave the option to join us at ECHO to finalize the meal and serve the clients. And lastly – at 6:15, whomever could join, met us at The Grape Encounters EmPOURium for drinks and what turned into dinner!
I am fortunate to have so many friends that wanted to be there and take part in giving back to the community – they were rockstars! My friend Cynthia gave a suggested prayer to the clients as they waited outside, I got choked up, she got choked up, it was a meaningful moment. We were packed into the tiny kitchen, but too many cooks in this case, did not spoil the broth. We went to work like an army. I just watched my friends take charge, look to me for information and it ran, for the most part, like a well-oiled machine! We served lasagna, salad, mashed potatoes, rolls, homemade cookies and brownies. We were all pretty pleased to hear a few clients say “This is the best meal I have ever had here!”. Mission accomplished, I was super happy. When a few clients found out it was my actual birthday and they wanted to meet me and thank our group, I gave them hugs and felt so gratified.
We are all human beings, equal and the same.