Our Volunteer Cup Overfloweth

Last Monday, I sat down to listen to the slew of voicemail messages that eager potential volunteers had left me over the weekend. As I went through them one by one, I noticed that the number of messages on my phone was actually going up—people were calling to volunteer every few minutes!

The holiday season always brings a dramatic increase in volunteerism, but I have gotten the impression that people are more eager to help this year than in the past. An article from the Washington Post agrees and points out some good reasons why. It suggests that, in the face of recession, people understand that the needs of the poor are higher now than ever before. Furthermore, as finances grow tight and jobs continue to disappear, many people have more time on their hands than money to donate.

This drastic increase in available volunteers makes my job (as volunteer coordinator) easier. But it has also led me to turn away a record number of interested people. We are already completely booked for volunteers in our food pantry in Northwest through Christmas Eve, and we only need a few more groups in our Southeast pantry in December.

I hate to turn away potential supporters, though--after all, Bread for the City is still feeling the crunch of the laden economy and we certainly need the help of our community to make it through these tough times.

But our pantries are simply physically too small to hold any more volunteers, so I’m trying to come up with creative ways to retain this onslaught of support. This year we had a great new opportunity for volunteers to get their hands dirty through Glean for the City -- but the harvest season has now come to a close. We also have volunteer opportunities for those with specialized skills (like the pro bono photography offered to us by Steve Goldenberg; web technology assistance from Drew Tipson and Chris Kennedy). And of course there's the many super-dedicated volunteers that we honor during the annual Good Hope Awards -- all of them are like members of our family.

What about the people who want to help during the holidays, but don't have highly specialized skills or even all that much time? Well I have three suggestions for you:

1. Bread for the City can put your dollars to just as good a use as your time -- especially during our Holiday Helpings campaign, which is only $28 for a family of four.

2. Get involved in political efforts that will address the root causes of poverty, like health care reform, or supporting our city's safety net.

3. Remember that our clients will still be struggling even after the holiday season. Your help will be just as valuable to us in February or June. You can submit an application here and I'll discuss how to plan in advance for future volunteering.

Although part of me is looking forward to a time when I won’t get 25 calls every day from volunteers who I can’t fit into our schedule, I know that a bigger part of me will miss the outpouring of support I’ve witnessed this holiday season. Many thanks to our supportive community.

A healthful Thanksgiving

Cross-posted from the DC Food For All.

Everywhere we turn, we're reminded that Thanksgiving is here. Most conversations focus on setting a beautiful table, cooking a moist turkey, making side dishes that could stop conversation, and baking pies to match.

And these things do matter. It also matters that the holidays, like all days, are healthful.

So at a recent cooking workshop here at Bread for the City, I participated in a conversation with our clients about how to make Thanksgiving healthful, without compromising flavor or tradition.

To get started, we talked about our various Thanksgiving table traditions, and came up with a list of what the clients called "Thanksgiving must-haves." It included: turkey, ham, brisket, and/or a roast; gravy; green beans; macaroni and cheese; stuffing; sweet potatoes; corn; mashed potatoes; rice; cooked greens (collards, kale, spinach, mustard greens, etc.); bread; cranberry sauce; and of course dessert.

Now, as part of our Nutrition Initiative, we are working with our clients to identify other ways to eat healthfully even with limited resources. For example, last year Bread for the City scrapped canned gravy from our holiday menu (as it not only has super-high sodium, but it's also expensive!), and instead passed out recipes for how to make your own gravy from the turkey's drippings.

This time around, we sorted many of the Thanksgiving must-haves into two categories: non-starchy vegetables (e.g., lettuce, tomatoes, cooked greens, garlic, asparagus) and starchy vegetables and grains (e.g., sweet potatoes, corn, rice, and bread). Having had quite a few cooking classes under their belts by now, the people in my class noted that, ideally, the non-starchy vegetables on one’s plate would take up more space than the starchy vegetables and grains. But when we looked at the list of Thanksgiving must-haves, the starches/grains appear to have overtaken the non-starchy vegetables.

Our solution to this problem? Add vegetables wherever possible. After I offered some suggestions, the class participants really ran with the exercise, and came up with the following suggestions themselves:

• For the green beans: Cook with onions, garlic, and/or broccoli.
• For the macaroni and cheese: Add spinach, cauliflower, and/or tomatoes.
• For the stuffing: Include plenty of celery, garlic, onions, pepper, and/or carrots
• For the mashed potatoes: Mash in garlic, celery root, rutabaga, and/or cauliflower.
• For the rice: Add plenty of fresh herbs, like parsley and mint.
• For the greens: Don’t forget the onions and garlic.
• And make a salad, as well!

Bread for the City client Gail prepares Thanksgiving dinner in her home.

We then made a healthier macaroni and cheese with low-fat cheese and milk, loads of chopped spinach, and whole wheat pasta. The clients couldn’t believe how good it was. Then they were wowed by our fresh cranberry relish, an addition or alternative to highly sweetened cranberry sauce.

And it’s easy to make. Here’s the recipe:

2 ½ cups of fresh cranberries
1 ½ cups of walnuts
1 apple
2 cans of pineapple rings in their own juice
3 stalks of celery

Directions:

Finely chop cranberries and walnuts.
Mix them together in a large bowl. Then pour in the pineapple juice from the cans.
Chop apples, celery, and pineapple rings and add to bowl.
Mix well.
Feel free to adjust the proportions to taste.  (I make mine a little different each time.) Enjoy!

Meanwhile, by the end of today, more than 5,000 DC families will have received Bread for the City's Holiday Helpings feasts (including a turkey and all the trimmings; low-sodium stuffing; pasta; and fresh produce from our Glean for the City program). Few, if any, of these families could otherwise have afforded such a feast. For readers who would like to support our Holiday Helpings campaign -- just $28 for a family of four -- please visit www.breadforthecity.org/holidayhelpings

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Mark your calendars: SOME turkey trot

Even the poor deserve something to be thankful for, so we are always on the look out for opportunities to harness the spirit of Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving our community partner, SOME (So Others Might Eat), and Honorary Chair Mayor Adrian Fenty are hosting the 7th Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger. Held at 8:30 am on Thanksgiving morning in West Potomac Park in Washington, DC, the Trot for Hunger is a 5K fun run and family walk that benefits SOME's programs for the hungry and homeless. This year, SOME says they are offering "official ChronoTrack timing" to all participants - but speaking only for ourselves, it sounds like more fun just to get together for a brisk stroll.

Here are more details:

Where: West Potomac Park in Washington, DC
When: November 27, 2008
How: You can register here. If you would like to volunteer, please contact SOME staff.
Why: SOME is serving 10% more meals than it did last year, and your support will help them to continue to meet the needs of those who are in need of help. Whereas Bread for the City's food pantry hands out provisions for people to make in their own homes, SOME serves a client base that often lacks access to kitchen facilities. The Trot for Hunger benefits SOME’s programs for the homeless and helps SOME to serve more than 800 meals to hungry and homeless children, women and men every day of the year.
Who: You! And your people! Get in there.