Giving Back

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to give back to those less fortunate then myself and I have to say the experience was amazing. I met this girl Aislynn a while back who is just someone that is very inspirational. She gives so much of herself and to others, that you can't help but feel all the good energy coming from her.

She and her mother, (Linda) run a soup kitchen every Wednesday for anyone and everyone that needs a little help, a person to talk to and a warm meal given with love, and compassion!!! Aislynn invited me to come and help out, to volunteer my time and I have to say that I am so very thankful for her letting me come and help.

I arrive at the kitchen around 5pm and find Aislynn, she introduces me to some of the other volunteers and gives me a great t-shirt that says Abundant Table on the front and this great saying on the back:

Meal: 100 dollars
Supplies: 75 dollars
Clean Up: 50 dollars
Dinner with friends: PRICELESS!!

It is so true, the people that came to the dinner, were all so very sweet, most have developmental challenges and live in an apartment complex together. The rest were low income or homeless folks that just needed a good meal and a warm smile.

After I was introduced to the other volunteers I jumped right in and asked "What can I do to help?"

Someone said, "The gravy needs to be made"

"You got it."

Now the kitchen and dinning room is in a hall at a church and for some reason that I'm not sure about, someone had taken the key to unlock the a/c controls so needless to say it was HOT and HUMID in there, but you know it didn't bother me much. I gladly stirred and mixed the gravy trying not to make too much of a mess, one thing about me I love to cook but make a mess usually when doing so.

The menu for the night consisted of chicken patties, brocolli or corn, rice and gravy, with pumpkin pie and strawberry surprise for desserts. After making the gravy and the people started to come in, I went around with other volunteered and made sure that everyone had something to drink and to see if they needed anything else. I met some really wonderful people and listened to their stories. Dinner was passed around and everyone enjoyed the meal, seconds and thirds were asked and we more then happily served more. Dessert came around and I was quite surprised to see that just about everyone wanted the Strawberry Surprise (I named it that, because we were't exactly sure what it was, it was the color of Pepto Bismol Pink and had some strawberry flavored custard or cream on top of sponge cake, it was VERY VERY SWEET). But everyone seemed to favor that.

There was this one woman who brought her dog with her, who was unfortunately without a home right now. She and her dog were living in her truck, now this woman was very worried about leaving her dog outside, so Aislynn sat with the dog for most of the dinner, and then these two young girls that were there with their mother's sat with the dog. Come to find out this woman was having some financial troubles and was trying to get back on her feet but due to circumstances was not able to find a place to live, so what did Linda and Aislynn do, they invited this woman to come and stay with them in their home. See I told you they were amazing.

What is even more incredible is this isn't the first time they have invited someone to stay with them, until they can get back on their feet, and you know what I'm sure it will not be the last.

Here is a picture of Aislynn and her Mom Linda, thank you for letting me be a part of the great work that you do, and I will definitely be back to volunteer some more.