Alice In Tenderland: Part 2
April 16th, 2010by Marie
“A Tea Party, Indeed!”
Perhaps you read the 1st installment of “Alice in Tenderland”* back in March (very loosely based on L. Carrol’s “wonderful” classics, and greatly inspired by the Tenderloin Community of San Francisco). Well, in this 2nd “chapter” of Alice’s adventures in Tenderland, we find Alice joining the exuberant group of St. Anthony Foundation volunteers for their annual appreciation event this past weekend (Sat, April 10th). . .
Alice ransacked her closet to come up with an outfit tailored to the theme of this year’s volunteer celebration: the Roaring 20’s (putting aside some things she hadn’t worn in ages that were practically brand new!). She studied her reflection in the looking glass, deciding that she’d managed to put together something reminiscent of a 20’s flapper, and off she went to catch BART. Up once again from the Civic Center Station, she walked now with familiarity over toward St. Anthony’s. She joined the line with many other volunteer colleagues who were checking in at 150 Golden Gate. She recognized some and marveled at all … as many were decked out in style, even in feathers, boas, beads, and spats! Stepping inside the lobby and into the large community room where the event was in full swing, she saw in the center of the room, an area teeming with people gathered under a big sign that read “Tony’s Tea House”. There was even a gentleman sporting a tall top hat and a velvet blue coat: “The Mad Hatter?” Alice wondered: “Here?!” Not the Mad Hatter, as it goes, but a marvelous volunteer dressed to the nines for the occasion. Alice was served a glass of “Tony’s Tea”: an iced, non-alcoholic concoction of fruit and fizz. “Yum!!!!” Alice toasted to those around her: “Here’s to St. Anthony’s!” A tray of crab cake appetizers floated by in the arms of one of St. Anthony’s staff. Alice helped herself …
After a refill of Tony’s tea, several more appetizers, and more than a few rounds of dancing the Charleston with staff and volunteers, Alice lined up to have her picture taken in the “Model T” photo booth along with many others-some of whom she’d met already during her weekly Dining Room volunteer shift; and others of whom she was just meeting for the first time tonight. Not only Dining Room volunteers were celebrating, but volunteers from all the programs at St. Anthony’s. There were even some volunteers from a group called the Stitchers; a group that began 25 years ago, actually hand-making clothing and quilts for the guests and clients of St. Anthony’s!
The night continued with an all star supper (prepared by the new head chef and his talented and experienced staff of the St. Anthony Dining Room) and a service awards ceremony for the volunteers that had been serving at St. Anthony’s for years. As the evening drew to a close, Alice and other volunteers who were walking to BART or Muni after the event were escorted there by several of the staff, and as she settled into her seat for her journey back across the Bay …
… Alice realized the feeling that she’d been having on and off through out the night. When it’d first begun with the delicious tea, appetizers, and later with the dinner itself, Alice thought perhaps she was simply getting full from the excellent fare. But she realized that it was her heart that was brimming, brimming with joy. That was the feeling she got most of the time when she was serving as a volunteer in the Dining Room; most of the time—that is. Sometimes her heart broke with recognition of the day in and day out struggle that so many of the guests and clients endured. Inevitably however, it was the guests who’d lift her spirits, with their smiles and kind words. “This truly is a Tenderland”, Alice mused, “a community of caring that ‘sizes’ folks into what really matters.” Before dropping off to sleep, Alice turned her looking glass onto society, a society that too often treats the poor like pawns in a chess game. . .”How DO we nourish society to become a community in which all persons flourish?” (this last sentence is based upon the Mission Statement of St. Anthony Foundation).
To be cont, “Alice & Advocacy”. . .