To everything...there is a season

Turns out unexpected (never have expectations, trust me) changes to plans can induce culinary gluttony.  The season of indulgence is set to expire on or before Thanksgiving with a return to whole food/plant based eating.  Like everything else I’ve chosen to stop indulging in, there is a season of quitting/resuming followed by eventual cessation.  I still cannot find any conscionable means of supporting animal products and I can find plenty of vegan alternatives.

That said, sometimes gluttony is for a good cause.  Case and point are the fundraisers I’ve been attending for various non-profit agencies including the Swiss Valley Nature Center (Olive Garden donated lasagna and homemade baked goodies), Hillcrest Children and Family Services (donated by Mario’s Italian restaurant in Dubuque), Operation Nue View’s “Beat the Heat” winter energy program (Dubuque Eagles’ Club ‘burger night’), and the Dubuque Regional Humane Society’s “future bright stars program” (repeat Dubuque Eagles’ Club ‘burger night’ coming up this Friday, November 14^th).  At Swiss Valley, I have been fortunate to forge a bond with Jenny Ammon, Naturalist) after our attendance at the fundraiser, my frequent hiking on Center trails, and our participation in the “Becoming an Outdoors’ Woman” program.  After the fundraiser, she and I chatted about ideas for future fundraisers including a silent auction of baked goods (this does not require a gambling license) and also the possibility of an editorial in the Telegraph Herald before the event to entice folks to attend (and to laud the companies donating foods).  In addition to being tasty, attending these fundraisers has strengthened my bonds with area agencies, my understanding of their needs and operations, and helped me reflect on how student fundraisers for service learning projects can be improved in future.

The holiday season is also approaching.  I’m excited to be participating in the “Donna Ginter Thanksgiving Dinner” for the first time this year.  Donna Ginter was the West Dubuque Tap owner who spearheaded the delivery of Thanksgiving dinner for those in need until her death.  Her daughters are continuing the tradition.  I am set to volunteer to pack food and deliver food from 9am-1pm on Thanksgiving Day.

I’m thrilled to finally get to do a holiday volunteer gig since those are typically the times that shelters and non-profit agencies need the least help.  As I’m often saying to students, however, this volunteer opportunity did not happen without some persistence.  Since many non-profit or benefit organizations have few (or no) paid staff, it can take quite a bit of time/effort to secure a volunteer gig.  I am quite sure that the organizer I spoke to yesterday was trying to juggle several jobs in addition to planning for the Thanksgiving Dinner.  As a volunteer, my job is to persist (I made 5 phone calls before we were able to connect), to be flexible (while it would be nice to have volunteer hours fit my time preferences that is not always the case), and to remain in awe of the good work people do for one another (e.g., the Donna Ginter Thanksgiving Dinner will deliver 2,500 Thanksgiving meals by 1:00pm in Dubuque).

Speaking of awe for the good work non-profit agencies can do, I have so been enjoying my time doing food preparation, service, and clean-up at the Iowa City Free Lunch Program.  The more I volunteer for the Free Lunch Program, the more I see the interconnectedness of social service agencies.  For instance, the Free Lunch Program operates more smoothly with the help of Table to Table, which delivers food to avoid grocery waste.  While I ultimately found that volunteering for Table to Table is difficult for my schedule, I appreciate the time the Table to Table folks spent with me explaining the organization when I signed up to volunteer and I look forward to working with them in future on ways to expand their influence via service learning projects.  For instance, I think students will be very interested to learn that “Good Samaritan” laws protect companies who donate food in good faith (it is largely a lack of understanding of this that prevents more food donations from groceries stores, restaurants, etc.) from liability.  I hope they will want (in Social Problems or Sociology of the Environment) to take this knowledge to local restaurants and stores.  I also hope they will contact Drake University law students for their advice on how to work with Kirkwood (as the Drake students have done with Drake) to minimize food waste/share excess food within their own institution.  [Perhaps there’s a way to design a service learning project that would create a system to donate unused food from the Kirkwood Cafeteria (or Kirkwood Hotel or other Kirkwood-catered events) to a local food shelter if students were to coordinate and maintain positive/responsible interactions.]  On the subject of interconnected social service agencies, yesterday I met a fellow volunteer who is a member of the 100+ Corridor Women Who Care group.  Group members contribute what is (to them) a modest amount of $400/year, which can result in awards to the non-profit in excess of $20,000, which is a very sizable chunk of change to most non-profits.  Past winners have included Table to Table and Hospice of Eastern Iowa.  The Free Lunch Project is currently up for the award.

In the case of the Iowa City Free Lunch Program, the money would go to very good use.  I have nothing but stellar things to say about my work with the organization and with Jama, a Co-Director in charge of ‘on the ground’ coordination of groups/volunteers and food/equipment preparation.  She is a consummate professional with clients and exceptionally patient with volunteers (like me) in need of help in the industrial-sized kitchen.  This past volunteer shift, she asked if I might be interested in joining the Board of Directors for the Free Lunch Program.  I am definitely interested and am thrilled at the prospect.  In addition to the knowledge gleaned from volunteering, Board of Directors involvement would further my understanding of opportunities for service learning projects.  It would also create another link between Kirkwood and area non-profit agencies.

Board membership would also allow me to explore further some ideas for the Free Lunch Program.  For instance, I wonder about how other social service agencies can increase their presence at the Free Lunch Program.  On Friday, folks are coming to enroll clients in food stamp programs before lunch (Jama offered to come help even though she’s not due in on Friday), and I’m guessing there are many other community agencies that could serve clients by doing the same.  Similar to how we organized a Senior Free Lunch with afternoon programming when I was a Community Organizer on the Southwest Side of Chicago, I’m wondering if it might be possible to have recurring programming events during lunch that would highlight available ways to increase skills (including enrollment in classes at Kirkwood?!) and access more of the available community services.

Jama and I also discussed the possibilities for making the program less “one-sided.”  At present, the model has services flowing only from provider to recipient.  Some revision to programming could result in more reciprocity.  Wayne Muller (founder of Bread for the Journey), in his book Being, Doing, and Having Enough, writes of the benefits of having service based non-profits incorporate the talents of the clients they serve as a means of creating ownership.  He relays stories of clients taking pride in improving their living circumstances when presented with the opportunity and the tools.  I think it would be neat to see what talents or skills could be shared among Free Lunch Program clients during afternoon programming (or by invoking a Time Bank model) as well.

The physical change in seasons (e.g., the precipitous drop in temperature on November 11th) means that I’m preparing for Hawaii.  I’ve been doing some research (more on that soon) into volunteerism, accommodations, and transportation.  As previously alluded, plans are not as anticipated and costs are prohibitive for some of what I’d hoped to do.  The Big Island is, after all, a BIG Island and the lack of a car is problematic.  Many off-the-grid housing options are just not doable without a car though I still hope to visit ‘gridless’ homes and farms.  I’m trying to decipher bus schedules for both intra-Waimea and Hilo to Kealakekua travel.  Unfortunately the network of public transportation is limited by both topography (read: that pesky lava that forms the Island also makes traversing it very tricky) and economic exploitation (read: bus schedules are designed to truck folks from the poorer side of the Island to the resort jobs on the dry side).  Given that I once spent 1 hour and 45 minutes waiting for a bus in freezing conditions in downtown Chicago because I misread a schedule (for a route not that dissimilar from my daily commute at the time), it should be interesting.  I may be rockin’ Dustin Hoffman’s Ishtar look across desert portions of the Big Island soon.

Send water?  :)  Peace out.  B.