So Blessed!

I have often said that I am the most blessed man on earth. Today I believe that even more.

Yesterday, I was invited by my Rock Church friend to join her to help prepare and feed the homeless near Petco Park in downtown San Diego.

I had be looking for a volunteer project and had not found one in which suited me.  I had thought about volunteering for a homeless project, but had put it off, not sure how to go about it. When my friend asked me if I wanted to go with her to serve, I said sure. This would be a test for me to see if I felt comfortable. 

The charity is a non-profit named Just Call Us Volunteers. It was started by Chef Julia Darling in 2005. It started as Christmas homeless feeding, but expanded to Thanksgiving and now year around. The organization receives support of Chefs and hospitality industry throughout San Diego County. For me this was a big plus. I was in the foodservice industry for almost 60 years. I love this industry and the people in it. It is supported by donations of food and supplies from various purveyers and cash from people.

We drove to a strip mall where the charity had a full preparation kitchen. The first task was to prepare the food. Although I spent years in the industry, I cannot cook. I was assigned to shuck corn and the strip the kernels from from the cob for a delicious Mexican corn dish. Next I removed seeds from cucumbers. All fit my skills perfectly.

When everything was ready we loaded our cars and drove toward downtown. Of course we got lost, but finally found the place. Even getting lost was fun. Especially, since I was not driving. The area has several shelters in this neighborhood, and a very large population of the destitute. There are so many homeless. It is so sad.

We set up the table, mixed the salad and laid out the chili (vegetarian and beef), cornbread and cookies. The people approached us five at a time. It is a very disciplined and everyone followed the directions. And they all said thank you..

Now I was face to face with the homeless. Some of whom were still drunk or extremely hungover. There were druggies, PTSD veterans, and who knows what else? Most were not very clean. Teeth were missing. There were a couple of younger people dressed nicely and must surely be newcomers. You would like to think they had a chance to move forward in a positive way.

As a writer I often use the saying, "Every Life is a story, some are long, some are shorter, but still a story of mankind and history." I couldn't help but think that each of these poor broken people had a story. It would seem that their stories were a trip to the bottom. They had lives before becoming homeless. What were those lives? They all were beautiful babies, and now they are ugly dirty people, destroyed by drugs, alcohol, the wars of their times and poverty and joblessness. I would so love to write their stories, but that would seem to be intruding and perhaps judgmental.

We served 75 people a nutritious meal. We packed up and drove back to the kitchen, passing a few homeless napping on the sidewalk. It was a learning experience for me and requires a lot of thought about those who live amongst us on the streets with all their belongings in a shopping cart or on the back of a wheelchair. It is difficult to absorb. How did they fall so far, stripped of their pride and humanhood? So very sad.

I was glad I did this, and I will do it again. It is God's work and he has blessed me. 

Sam