Good Citizen

Day: Three

Organization: Union Rescue Mission

Activity: Food Prep & Service

I LOVE food! Everything about it (other than the calories) — cooking it, eating it, experimenting with it and most of all sharing it with others. Thanks to my maternal grandmother (Mommom, as I called her) and my mom, I know my way around a kitchen and have been known to cook and bake some mean dishes. And, because of them, I know the joys of sharing meals with others. Family meals were big in family when I grew up and they still are, in fact some of my favorite foods to this day are the ones I grew up eating on Sunday nights and holidays. I now make those dishes for friends whenever I can and often find myself wishing my family was closer so we could enjoy more frequent meals together.

There is nothing that saddens and frustrates me as much as the fact that there are so many people in this amazing country who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I find that to be unacceptable and a disgrace. I am blessed in that I have never had to worry about having enough food or the “right” foods. While there were times throughout my life when everything was more plentiful than other times, never have I worried about eating.

So, one of the most meaningful things I can do is to provide food to others. That could be prepping it, cooking it, serving it, packaging it, raising money for it or anything else I can think of to ensure others have sustenance. Without food you can’t function properly and without food kids can’t develop properly — again, not acceptable in the USA.

Today, I had an opportunity to do food prep and service at a mission that serves the homeless in LA’s Skid Row. Is it difficult to see such poverty 7 miles from my home, absolutely. But, it certainly changed how I appreciated my next meal.

Have a look to see what I was up to and to also hear from a woman I cooked for years ago who continues to inspire me everyday.