Volunteers in St. Anthony Dining Room play three major roles: working on the serving line, serving trays to guests and bussing tables. Most people’s favorite tasks are the first giving people food which is much more “glamorous” than cleaning up finished trays and sponging down tables. I on the other hand prefer to bus. It is a little more slow paced and allows this extrovert to chat and visit with the guests. Every once in a while we are short on volunteers and some of us staff get to get away from our desks and spend some time helping in the Dining Room. It’s always fun and many of our guests get a kick out of seeing us out of our usual role and in aprons and hair nets and have fun teasing us.

Last week I had an opportunity to serve in the Dining Room and as usual I jumped into my role as a busser. Volunteers who bus know that quite often guests at the table may ask for the uneaten bread or dessert or fruit on the tray before it is taken away. Over the years I’ve gotten into the habit of offering items to people before I put it into my collection bucket. The usual responses are “No thank you” or “I’ll take it!”. Last week I had a new response when I offered. The woman across from me looked me straight in the eye and said, “Don’t offer us garbage!” I told her that I only offer because so often people ask. She gave me her explanation, “If people ask then give it to them. But that is someone else’s leftovers, so don’t offer us garbage.” I apologized for offending her and returned to my work trying to hide my feelings of sadness and conflict.

This really made me step back and think. When we orient the volunteer groups we put a huge emphasis on dignity and respect. What does this mean, why is it so important at St. Anthony’s and why it is so important for them to act in this manner as volunteers. I felt I was being so kind and respectful in offering people more food and helping ensure that food didn’t get wasted. My offer to this woman was the complete opposite of respectful for her and she had an excellent and valid point. She made me think not just from the perspective of what is dignity and respect from a volunteer/staff perspective, but truly what does that mean from our guest’s perspective.

I’m still grappling over whether I will still offer people the extra food next time I am bussing. In my experience most people have appreciated it; but how many feel the same as this woman and don’t speak up? I am proud of this woman for speaking up for herself and thankful to her for pushing me out of my comfort zone and challenging me to think deeper about these issues that I talk to volunteers about every day.

After a week long hiatus, the Tech Lab has reopened with some new improvements that will make things run a little smoother. We cleaned the place from top to bottom, re-networked the computers and added 3 bulletin boards for lab updates, job search postings and Tenderloin Community program updates. A big thanks goes out to all the volunteers who came in and helped us to give the lab a makeover, you’re help is much appreciated.

Lab hours have also changed. Beginning this past Tuesday, we will no longer be offering evening hours, which used to take place from 6-8 p.m. We will, however, be extending our Saturday drop-in hours from 11:00-3:00 p.m.

And for the grand finale, on the afternoon of November 5th, the Tech Lab will be hosting a small get together in the afternoon for anyone who is interested. Snacks and drinks will be provided as well as good company. Festivities will start around 1:30. Anyone and everyone is invited!

There’s something about the holidays that switches people’s giving instincts from Cash to Carry. (Yes, people do have an instinct to give.)

They want to give objects more than money. Maybe it’s the idea of a giving a present rather than something that looks like payment. More likely, it’s because they’re already out shopping.

St. Anthony Foundation can always use objects. And during Thanksgiving and Christmas week, we make it easy for you to donate. Drive up to 119 Golden Gate (between Leavenworth and Jones) and pull over. Volunteers will unload your donations and give you a receipt.

VOLUNTEER: Unload donations from arriving cars. Sort items to get them to the right St. Anthony program and onward to our guests. Organize a donation drive at your school or worksite.

Company groups:  415-592-2737 or email atrowbridge@stanthonysf.org
Individuals, families:  415-592-2829

DONATE
Food
Turkeys, hams, and other large meats
25 lb. bags of rice, beans or flour
#10 cans of almost anything: beans, tomatoes, etc.
Family and individual size canned goods:
Tuna, canned meat, hearty soups, vegetables

Clothing
New socks
New underwear
Travel size toiletries: shampoo, bath gel, lotion
Blankets
Ready-to-use clothing, especially men’s, especially jeans

DON’T BRING
Housewares (even small ones)
Furniture (including baby furniture)
Baby car seats
Thank you and we’re sorry, but we can no longer accept these items.

DATES
Saturday, November 21 – Thanksgiving, November 26
Saturday, December 19 –Thursday, December 24
Weekdays 8:00 AM  – 6:00 PM
Weekends 9:00 – 3:00

Oh yeah. We take money, too.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday October 26 - Thai Vegetable Curry
Coconut milk and lemongrass

Tuesday October 27 – Posole Pork
Pork simmered in green chili sauce with hominy

Wednesday October 28 – Chili Con Carne
Served with cornbread

Thursday, October 29  – Smoked Turkey Hash
Roasted potatoes, turkey ham, onions, and peppers.

Friday October 30 – Sloppy Joe’s
Ground beef simmered in sauce.

Saturday October 31 – Three Witches Pasta
Chicken in white sauce over angel hair pasta

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

Wednesday, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senator Yee’s bill to restore $16 million in funding to California domestic violence shelters. Thank you to everyone who called/emailed the Governor and asked him to sign the bill!

Senator Yee’s bill restores funding through June of 2010. We will continue our advocacy to make sure that California’s domestic violence shelters continue to receive funding after that date! To read more, go to:

“California Restores Funding to Domestic Violence Shelters” San Jose Mercury News

“A Reprieve for California Shelters” New York Times

New numbers from the National Academy of Science reveal an alarming 15.8 percent of Americans are below the federal poverty line. Original US Census Bureau numbers set the percentage at 13.2 percent—and underestimate of about 7 million people.

That means 1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty.

The US Census Bureau has not updated formula parameters for calculating poverty to reflect economic change since 1955; thus, increased costs of medical care, childcare, transportation as well as cost of living as it varies by geographic location are not accurately factored in to calculations.

This raises the question: how then is poverty defined? Since the 1960s the government has marked poverty in absolute terms, independent of outside factors and events. The US Census Bureau defines individuals or families who are below the “absolute poverty line” are considered to have insufficient resources to meet basic needs for healthy living and are without sufficient income for food, shelter, and clothing necessary to preserve health.

Absolute poverty line thresholds vary depending on collective income and number of family members, but generally if a family’s total income is less than its calculated “threshold” then they are considered poor.

These inflexible measures primarily overlooked people 65 and older—a growing population that is increasingly suffering from financial crisis due to health care costs.

As the US Census Bureau reexamines its methods for evaluating the citizen’s economic state, perhaps more important is our evaluation of the needs of 47.4 million impoverished Americans.

One of my favorite things in this life is pulling clean laundry out of the dryer, and slipping my cold feet into a pair of snug warm socks.  There’s really nothing quite like it.  Torrential downpour and chilly wind in the city’s dismal winter months makes the experience that much more rewarding.

As we prepare for the holidays, and gear up for what is traditionally the busiest time for St. Anthony’s, we take note of these items like socks that make a big difference in such a small low-cost way.

Imagine if instead of out of a drawer or dryer, the socks you were sliding on in the morning were the same wet ones you braved the rain in last night, and for the previous few days for that matter. Many of our homeless guests at St. Anthony’s are on their feet and perhaps don’t have a place to rest and recharge. A clean new pair of socks are not an accessory or afterthought, they are a piece of refuge and reenergizing that we can offer to make that day better.

You can be a part of that refuge, bring in clean new socks for guests at St. Anthony Foundation.  Or hold a drive with friends, coworkers or church groups and gather socks to bring in for our Curbside Donation Drive.

What’s cooking this week at St. Anthony Dining Room!

Monday October 19 - Chef’s Choice
This month’s Chef Choice is BBQ Beef served over rice with a side of salad.

Tuesday October 20 – Chicken Stroganoff
With mushrooms, green bell peppers and sour cream

Wednesday October 21 – Farfalle Pasta with Pesto
Basil Pesto Cream Sauce

Thursday, October 22 – Beef and Broccoli
Served with Rice and Vegetables

Friday October 23 – Turkey Con Mole
Braised in chili sauce and served with rice

Saturday October 24 – Pork Adobo
Slow cooked in soy suace and served with rice and vegetables

Sunday October 25 – Chicken Fricassee
Served with Brown Rice and Vegetables.

Check back for weekly installments of On The Menu!

It was Week of Caring, and Wells Fargo Trade Services was working the Clothing Program. They sorted and hung donated clothes, enough to keep the Clothing Program’s doors open the next day.

The Clothing Program can be quiet work, most of it in the room behind the store. It’s an opportunity to talk to staff and ask questions, a good gig for chatting with co-workers while getting something done. But in spite of the quiet, it’s crucial. We’ve had days with no group help and it meant closing our doors early.

The same day, Chevron Energy Solutions staffed the Dining Room. The environment at St. Anthony Dining Room is almost the opposite of the Clothing Program: fast, furious, and noisy.  The Chevron Energey Solutions group spends their days stretching energy efficiency, and it showed. They served meals and bussed trays and kept up with our demanding rate of 12 trays per minute.

“It was a great opportunity to work with an organization that has such a positive impact and influence within our SF community,” they told us. “All our volunteers had a wonderful time and said they would go back for future events.”

That’s good, because we intend to invite them back. There are several essential tasks that must be done before the holidays hit, and a whole menu of Holiday Projects that make it possible for us to celebrate with our guests.

Corporate work teams are an important part of our clever plot to win the hearts and minds of the entire city. They talk about their experience to the co-workers who couldn’t come. They come back with other teams: colleagues, church groups, families, friends. They come back on their own. They invite us to their workplace giving events and give us chance to tell yet more people why people get poor and what St. Anthony’s is doing about it. They organize co-workers to collect socks and toiletries and all those things we always run out of and always need.

We need the help. We want the friends.

If you want to organize a volunteer team at your company for a holiday project, call me at 415-592-2737 or email atrowbridge@stanthonysf.org.