Greater Chicago Food Depository

On Tuesday, March 19th, we had the privilege of visiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository. This is a huge food bank that provides food to 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to 678,000 adults and children in Cook County every year. We did not spend a whole lot of time in this location but we still managed to have a lot of fun! Once entering the actual food bank, we saw an enormous amount of food in an area as large as 10 Costcos combined...if not more. We were in charge of inspecting the bread (as if we didn't have enough carbs in our systems already) for molds and packaging it.

The fun part of this visit was working together with other group members as well as another group of volunteers in an assembly line. The bread was taken off the shelves, checked for date expiration, checked for molds or other weird spots (by my fellow doctors and I) and then sent to the packaging team. There were many conditions that my group and I saw in the bread such as molditis, jaunditis, and burntitis. The bread with molditis was usually thrown away (which would be given to pigs) and the bread with the other two conditions were usually passed on to the packaging crew to be sent out. There were some disagreements among my fellow doctors about some of the conditions among the bread, but nonetheless, we usually came to the same conclusion and were able to work it out. After going through a ton of bread ranging from white, wheat, onion (my favorite), Italian, French, rye, powdered, etc, we were finally done! More bread please!...NOT :)

Greater Chicago Food Depository - Community Impact Every Day (check out this link for more info!)

the Marillac House

Hi! Jesse speaking.

On Wednesday we had the pleasure of going to the Marillac House Food Pantry. The Marillac House Food Pantry is basically a free market where poor and low income people can go to get a weeks worth of free food for themselves and their households. In the morning, we helped them unload their food donation truck which, on Wednesday, consisted of tons of potatoes, some canned foods, and tons of cabbage. After unloading the truck and eating lunch, we helped organize the food market and took on different roles to help in different ways. Two of us, myself and Maddy, helped greet and sign in the clients at the table in the waiting room while the others assisted the clients when they helped went in and picked out their food. We all had a blast helping out the clients and the other volunteers that worked there.
I didn't get to interact with the clients as much as I would have liked to, but I still got a lot from the trip to the Marillac House. I saw how enthusiastic the other volunteers were to be working and serving at the house, which was really encouraging. It was also really cool to see how much of a community the volunteers had with each other and how that was enough for them to be energized to help and serve their clients everyday. I guess it's just humbling and eye opening to see how much of a heart for others and a heart for serving I could have. Yes, I love to serve others and give others my all. But how much more of a heart could I have? How much more motivation do I need to serve day every single day? It's just really encouraging and motivating to see how much more of heart I could have.
I hope to continue to develop this heart when I go back home, whether it is within my circle of friends, my clubs at school, my family, my girlfriend, whatever. And I hope you guys will help encourage me in this way. :)

Jesse out.

Not Our Brand of "Salvation" or, Monday's Service

When asked about the monetary donations she received from unsatisfactory individuals, Mother Teresa is said to have remarked that the money was cleansed by the good it would do.

During today’s service to the Salvation Army, I recalled this statement many times.

Monday’s experience was not at all what I—and I think I can speak here for the rest of the group, and say we—were expecting or what we had hoped for.  When our program leaders contacted the Salvation Army, we were told we would be doing service with the elderly and playing bingo with them.  Once we arrived to the center, though, we were redirected a given a short task to rearrange a very small food pantry, pulling the older cans to the front so they can be given out first.  After this, we were told that the individual who we were set to work with was not in, and that there was an issue with the supplies we needed to accomplish our task.  We later realized that bingo is not scheduled for Monday afternoons.

In the end, of day consisted of arranging the pantry, playing basketball among ourselves to pass the time, eating lunch, and then packaging “Salvation Army”- branded socks and their magazine publication, “War Cry,” in tissue paper to hand out to the elderly at a nursing home.

During our time at the Salvation Army, ABers picked up some the informational literature lying around.  Many of us were shocked by the obviously religious undertones, as some in the group were unfamiliar with the history and mission of the Salvation Army.  Another thing we noticed in these informational magazines was the sense that the Army saw themselves as above the people they were serving.  One article noted the story of a Roma man in Europe whose life dramatically changed after meeting a Salvationist.  The article, which was written in the first person but whose language very clearly indicated it was not written by this individual, attributed all this man’s success to the Army.  Many of us felt uncomfortable with the hierarchy present in this article and in the literature, and the overall propaganda-like feel to the information the organization was publishing.

We did get a chance to chat with one of the Salvation Army employees, who was able to give us a better sense of current efforts in Chicago to combat hunger and homelessness, as well as the demographics of those that this particular Salvation Army serves.  She stated at the largest population served is single men, but when asked if the Salvation Army captures or is interested in information on why the individuals the Army serves are homeless, she said that this area isn’t something the Salvation Army works to address.

She went on to note a program spearheaded by the city of Chicago in which, during extraordinarily cold nights, homeless individuals are picked up in vans and transported to area shelters.  She mentioned that many of the homeless refused to be transported, and went to say that many of them choose to live on the streets.  She said many of them have jobs—using family members’ addresses as their own—and are actually “wealthy” but chose to live on the streets.  She really emphasized this point: choosing to be homeless.

I was incredibly disappointed to hear that someone who works with the homeless in their community has this view.  If a person is mentally ill or unstable and, as a result, finds him- or her- self homeless, is that really a choice?  I absolutely do not think so.  Reflecting back on this conversation later in the day, I saw a connection with the Salvation Army literature I had read.  There was this overall sense of people being completely responsible for their personal plight, without regard to any of the barriers present that could lessen their ability to earn gainful employment, own a home, get an education, put food on the table, etc.

We as Alternative Break participants have come to understand homelessness (and hunger) as being linked with other issues, not the direct result of a choice or choices.  There are systems in place that make it difficult for some people to make the system work for them, and also things that mitigate their ability to improve their situation.

In the end, we came to the conclusion that although today’s experience was disappointing on two fronts: the lack of service and blame placed on homeless individuals, it was a valuable experience in terms of a true understanding of the services and systems in place in Chicago to deal with the issues we aim to address.

Maddy Bersch is a junior Government & Politics major and Arabic studies/Global terrorism/International Development & Conflict Management minor. She originally hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and wanted to participate in this trip to get a glimpse of efforts by the City of Chicago to combat hunger and homelessness in veteran populations.

Day 1: Welcome to Chi-Town

Happy St. Patrick's Day from ASB Chicago! Our tour of the city began with our first trip on The L. While it is similar to the metro in DC, we all noticed its rustic appearance and above-ground routes. We got off the train near Millenium Park and approached The Bean, a reflective sculpture. Everyone went tourist-crazy. The Bean gave us many photo opportunities, whether lying on the ground, taking a panoramic shot, or capturing the whole group's reflection. Our photos were clearly the most captivating and never-thought-of-before images. We also ran into the other ASB Chi-town group. They were exploring the city and we discussed our plans for service to come. Starbucks was our favorite store today as we stopped in three different locations to get warm and enjoy some coffee. After passing through Millenium Park we went in search of the green Chicago River. Though the Chicago River always flows backward, it is only green on St. Patrick's Day. Many tourists and Chicago natives alike were decked out in their green gear. We also looked at the trendy fashions in the windows on Michigan Avenue. Finally, we saw a Chicago staple: the Willis Tower (formerly Sear's Tower). Luckily, it was a clear day in Chicago and we could see for miles from the Skydeck. Today was a great day to see the city.

We came across an interesting occurence on The L as we were heading back to the hostel in hopes of free dinner still being avaliable for us upon our arrival. A man, Basim, of approximatly middle to late twenties, walked onto the metro and annouced his presence to the entire cart. Noticing him, I realized that he must be homeless, based solely on his ragged look and attire. As he continued talking, he preached the tragic events that have come upon him in the past few days. His alcoholic father had gotten into an abusive argument which resulted in Basim's removal from his own home. He mentioned that he needed some money, about $18 dollars, to buy a bus ticket to his cousin's house, who lives north of Chicago. Megan generously gave him a $20 bill and he kindly thanked her and kept apoligizing the rest of the metro ride.

I couldn't imagine if it was me, out in the mid to low 30's of the windy Chicago city, looking to find shelter and food. Personally, I was complaining about half the time we were walking from street to street about the awful wind and the numbness my fingers were feeling. I couldn't even picture myself in the shoes of a homeless man or woman who spend days in the Chicago streets holding a sign in hopes of someone's empathy to help them. Basim was a great example for me of how judg,mental (Nick's proofreading skills)sometimes I can be about homeless people - I listened to his story and did feel sympathy for him at his words of lost hope and sadness, but in the back of my mind I was battling the idea of "maybe he's a liar, maybe he just wants to buy some alcohol, maybe he actually does have a home." These are some of the stereotypes I hope to eliminate from my mind. I hope by the end of the trip I have gained a new perspective of the homeless community. I want to hear their stories and who they are as individuals rather than a group of negative stereotypes. We discussed in our meeting tonight the different stereotypes associated with homeless people and reasons for why these stereotypes occur. Could it be because they don't have a voice? As AB Chicago, our goal is to give the homeless community a voice and a hope that they have options. Personally, I hope that we can improve and make a difference in the life of one person.

Pre-trip service!

Today, 9 members of the team went to Capitol Area Food Bank in D.C. to do some pre-trip service.

We met at the College Park Metro station, only to discover some track work was taking place around our intended Metro stop, and Metro was only running buses through the area. So, since it wasn't that far, we decided to drive.

We got there about 15 minutes early and everyone was pretty comatose at that point. We chilled inside with an energy level of about 0 and waited for the Food Bank to be ready for us. Once they were, machinery master David showed us the ropes. There were probably about 40 volunteers there in total, and we were in charge of filling bags for low-income elderly. As David pointed out, "when you're 300 years old you're not trying to work." A very astute observation indeed. We were glad to be able to help these elderly folks.

We set up an assembly line where one person was in charge of each food group and everyone else walked down the line with an open bag, collecting food items. There were also some people in charge of double-bagging bags, some tying the filled food bags, and some running around being Scissor Masters, opening boxes and collecting/crushing empty ones like ninjas. When Meenu took a turn doing this, she couldn't resist singing "you didn't have to cut me out," in typical Meenu fashion -- her brain literally thinks in puns. Some people switched jobs occasionally, and we continued working like this for a little over two hours. Personally I spent the first half bagging and the second half passing out cans of tuna. Tuna on tuna on tuna. Definitely never seen so much tuna in my life. At the end, we were able to fill over 2,000 bags!! We also finished almost an hour early.

When we had the occasional break we were dodging out of the way as David whipped by on the big machinery that moved the crates (no idea what those things are actually called - small forklifts??). If driving those things were a sport, David would probably be in the Olympics. There was definitely no speed limit in there, and he was also doing tricks on it. It's great that he was having fun, though, and enjoys his work while he's helping others. Another thing we enjoyed doing was observing the very entertaining sorority girls that were volunteering with us. They were seen modeling with bags of kidney beans and posing with cans, and overhearing their conversations was endlessly entertaining.

Though the work was repetitive, it was definitely fun! Doing something repetitive has a sort of soothing quality to it, especially in contrast to the major brain power required of us on a day-to-day basis in class. And of course, it felt good to be helping people.

The amount that we were able to get done in just over 2 hours makes me very excited for what we will be able to accomplish in a week in Chicago.

Current countdown = 14 days!! Go AB Chi-town!!

**pictures to come-- Meenu!**

Monday's Destination

I hope everyone's getting pumped - there is less than five weeks remaining to our departure for Chicago!

Before we go, though, we're going to keep giving you a little taste of each community partner we'll be teaming up with in the city. For our first service project, which will take place on Monday, March 18, we will head to North Ogden Avenue to the Salvation Army Community Center.

The mission of the Salvation Army is based on active service, which is exactly what we'll be doing. Last year's AB trip also went to the community center, and offered their help to assist children with their homework after school, paint walls and play outdoor games with them and have fun. They also helped out with storing donations from the previous Christmas season.

The center has numerous programs to help the public, and we'll get a great look at the impact of direct service.

Community Partner Palooza

While in Chicago, we will be working with multiple community partners throughout the week to get a well-rounded experience with organizations that deal with hunger and homelessness.

As we add organizations to our schedule, we will keep you up to date on their missions and how we are going to serve them.

We have officially "booked" two community partners: the Marillac House and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Last year's trip volunteered at both organizations and loved the experience.

Here's more information on both:

Marillac House

The Marillac House provides social services to Chicago families. As volunteers, we may spend time playing with young children in the House's classrooms, tutoring students or helping in the food pantry. We will be there for one day on our trip.

Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) 

The Greater Chicago Food Depository is Chicago's food bank - like the Capital Area Food Bank in D.C. It gives food to hungry people by distributing it to multiple pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in the Chicago area. 

We will work at GCFD for half a day on behalf of the Marillac House to give them labor credits to help them buy food. While there, we will help repack food and other tasks we are needed for.