Today, March 30th, we were Easter bunnies for the homeless & it was a lot of fun for all. :)
Armed with 131 colored Easter eggs & 60 gift bags filled to the top with a brand new pair of socks, lots of candy & home baked cookies, Marilyn, JoDee & I headed out to Santa Rita Park, but not before picking up 15 great big pizzas from Little Caesars for the special occasion. :) Bill met us later on at Estevan Park.
We fed 55 people & were able to give the left over gift bags & eggs to Brother Dave to hand out to more homeless who were getting soup & hot chocolate from him at different parks this evening. :) We could have used probably another 5 pizzas, but we live & learn as we go. Everyone got at least two big slices, a few got three slices at the very end.
Homeless Tom, my buddy, had his 69th birth-day yesterday, so we had a small cake for him & the four of us sang to him as loud as we could to seem like we were a whole bunch. :) Tom also was the 10,000th person I fed last weekend. It just worked out that way & I'm glad.
Word is getting around that Hilde & I are back with food & it feels good to see the numbers fed are climbing again. :) At our prime we used to feed 80 to 100 people every time we went to the parks.
We lost one of everyones favorite & one of my favorite too from Estevan Park. Mike had a heart of gold & everyone always hovered over him to take care of him & to protect him. :) I seldom saw him sober, but he was one the kindest & most grateful of all. He always remembered my name & called me "Miss Elliott, right ??" and could he eat a lot of food. I always piled extra on his plate to sober him up. ;) Earlier this week Mike got run over by a train near Estevan Park. I always feared that he would be hit by a car, but not a great big train. Enjoy Heaven Mike !! I'll make a Spirit Plate for you at times, you are still getting fed. :)
Shirley & her son Aaron came over earlier this week with two great big boxes of clothes from her husband, who also just had crossed over. We put one box out at each park & most of the clothes was gone really fast. We only have a few pieces left, which we will take next time we go. Thank you Shirley & thank you also for being so thoughtful by giving me gas money to go to the parks. :) You are just so dear !! :)
Thank you JoDee & Sue for putting all the gift bags together & so quickly too !! You were like lil' tornadoes with all that candy. :) I had fun just watching you, while I stuffed the egg bags & the cookie bags. It was hard to focus on what I was doing because of observing you lil' whirlwinds. :)
And thank you Marilyn, JoDee, & Bill for helping serve & doing it with big smiles !! :)
I am so grateful for you all !! Bill, thank you also for the salt packets, although you still have them all. ;) I am also grateful to MacDonald's for donating a good size bag of lil' salt packets for the Easter eggs. :) That young man so came through for me !!
Sue thank you for all the jelly beans you donated & I got to tell you that we had a hard time keeping Marilyn from fishing out all the purple ones. ;) Hehehe !! :)
JoDee you were so generous by donating all those cellophane bags with the cute & fun Easter egg design on them & for bringing over more jelly beans too for the gift bags !! :) I feel blessed by all your kind help & look forward to getting to know you better !!
Randy you did it again with providing all the socks & lots of candy too & some water on top of it all. Thank you my Friend !! :) Your Heart is big & beautiful & kind !! :)
Cheryl, Cristina, Wendy & Gopal thank you for coloring all those great eggs, they were quite colorful & bright. Gopal, we are still impressed by your idea of using strong coffee for the brown eggs & turmeric for coloring the yellow eggs. :) What a clever idea !! :) Cheryl, it was great to hear that you had so much fun coloring your eggs !! :)
George & Marion, you always come through when I need help !! :) Thank you for all those really pretty cookies !! They were a joy to hand out with all the fun sprinkles on top !! :)
Dave & Linda thank you for the big bag of candy & I have to confess that I had to sample a few myself. ;) You are always there for me too & I am so grateful to you both !! :)
More Thank Yous are going out to Jane, Martin, Nan, & Maria in Wisconsin for sending funds to be able to do this & to get the pizzas too !! :) Your generosity is awesome !! :)
Words are too small to express my Gratitude to each & everyone of you & the Love you share by these great acts of Kindness for the people in need in the parks !! At times I am touched so deeply that I just sit & cry. It is that overwhelming, in a good way !! :)
I will post a few pictures too. :) We were too busy handing out everything that we didn't have time to stop to take photos. I took some of my helpers ahead of time before the parks. Enjoy !! :)
Together we filled everyone's Hearts & their bellies too !! :) Thank you all !! :)
Feeding the Homeless People in the City Parks of Tucson, Arizona.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
An Early Easter Dinner
Since this was Hilde & my regular weekend to feed we decided to yesterday serve Easter dinner a week early. :)
My friends Ryan & Barb brought us about 70 lbs. of potatoes all the way from Idaho that they grew themselves. :) So what to do with all those wonderful potatoes ?? :)
Hilde came over on Friday & we made a huge bucket of German potato salad for the homeless for the first time. It was a lot of work & worthy of an Easter meal. :) We also had about 15 lbs. of sliced Applewood Smoked Ham to go with it & tossed salad of course, plus Liz's wonderful cookies. :) Thank You Dave & Linda for donating the ham for this & for always being there to help out in whatever way I need help !! :)
Hilde came to the first park with us to serve the food & Bill, our new helper who recently moved here from "New Joysey" :) came to the second park to help Marilyn & I. Thank You Bill & Marilyn !! :) So grateful to & for you, & to Ryan & Barb for driving to Tucson to bring the potatoes, & to Liz for her great baking !! :)
The meal was a big success & everyone was grateful for the food. :) It just made me a little sad that we ran out of ham towards the end. Word is getting around that Hilde & I are cooking again, so the numbers of homeless showing up is growing once more. For a while I had food left over every time, so now we are getting again to where it used to be. :) The grapevine is at work. :)
I wish I had the energy & time to do more & sometimes I dream of having a place indoors to serve the food & maybe a shelter too. :) And Hilde dreams of a commercial kitchen. If only we were younger & our bodies were stronger still. So I pray for Miracles for the homeless & I know in my heart that Creator will make good things happen, maybe through other kind people too & to let it ripple out. :)
Next weekend the homeless will get another Easter surprise. :) I am going back to the parks to take Little Caesar pizzas to everyone, since this month has an extra Saturday. There is no one lined up for the 5th Saturdays of the month, so I will take a big bunch of pizzas on those from now on. And there will be other Easter surprises, but I will talk about those later. :)
If anyone wants to help out, just give me a call. My number is on this blog.
Many Blessings to each & everyone of you !! :) And a very happy Spring too !! :)
My friends Ryan & Barb brought us about 70 lbs. of potatoes all the way from Idaho that they grew themselves. :) So what to do with all those wonderful potatoes ?? :)
Hilde came over on Friday & we made a huge bucket of German potato salad for the homeless for the first time. It was a lot of work & worthy of an Easter meal. :) We also had about 15 lbs. of sliced Applewood Smoked Ham to go with it & tossed salad of course, plus Liz's wonderful cookies. :) Thank You Dave & Linda for donating the ham for this & for always being there to help out in whatever way I need help !! :)
Hilde came to the first park with us to serve the food & Bill, our new helper who recently moved here from "New Joysey" :) came to the second park to help Marilyn & I. Thank You Bill & Marilyn !! :) So grateful to & for you, & to Ryan & Barb for driving to Tucson to bring the potatoes, & to Liz for her great baking !! :)
The meal was a big success & everyone was grateful for the food. :) It just made me a little sad that we ran out of ham towards the end. Word is getting around that Hilde & I are cooking again, so the numbers of homeless showing up is growing once more. For a while I had food left over every time, so now we are getting again to where it used to be. :) The grapevine is at work. :)
I wish I had the energy & time to do more & sometimes I dream of having a place indoors to serve the food & maybe a shelter too. :) And Hilde dreams of a commercial kitchen. If only we were younger & our bodies were stronger still. So I pray for Miracles for the homeless & I know in my heart that Creator will make good things happen, maybe through other kind people too & to let it ripple out. :)
Next weekend the homeless will get another Easter surprise. :) I am going back to the parks to take Little Caesar pizzas to everyone, since this month has an extra Saturday. There is no one lined up for the 5th Saturdays of the month, so I will take a big bunch of pizzas on those from now on. And there will be other Easter surprises, but I will talk about those later. :)
If anyone wants to help out, just give me a call. My number is on this blog.
Many Blessings to each & everyone of you !! :) And a very happy Spring too !! :)
Saturday, March 23, 2013
10,000+ Homeless Fed
Yeay, today we fed 55 homeless people & we crossed 10,000 fed so far in 30 months. :)
It is a happy occasion for me, but also very bittersweet one too. My heart jumps with joy to know that we filled 10,000 tummies over the years, on the other hand it makes me sad that there are so many homeless people that need food !!
To serve nourishing comfort food is always the goal & it warms our hearts to see all the gratitude when handing over a full plate to each person. :) They deserve the best food possible & for some it is the only meal they eat on that day.
Many of the homeless are down on their luck, do to our current economy & we are not here to judge them. Others are trying to get back on their feet & just need a little help. And then there are the ones that like the homeless lifestyle, because it is all they have known for so long. Most deserve our respect & some kind words, along with the food. :)
Today at one of the parks this man drove up in a cab & wanted to know what we were doing, so we explained it to him. He then wanted to know what church I am with & I told him that I do this on my own. Then he began preaching to me about his church & that I should go there. I told him that I like to teach by being an example. What I really wanted to say to him was that if he had picked up a spoon in the time he was preaching to me about doing God's work & attending his church, he could have served a bunch of the homeless their food & nurtured them some. So it is where we put our Priorities & our Love !! :)
I am really tired & it is almost midnight, but I will add more to this blog tomorrow.
It has been an awesome day !! :) Thank You Creator !! :)
Good Night everyone & sleep with the Angels !! :)
It is a happy occasion for me, but also very bittersweet one too. My heart jumps with joy to know that we filled 10,000 tummies over the years, on the other hand it makes me sad that there are so many homeless people that need food !!
To serve nourishing comfort food is always the goal & it warms our hearts to see all the gratitude when handing over a full plate to each person. :) They deserve the best food possible & for some it is the only meal they eat on that day.
Many of the homeless are down on their luck, do to our current economy & we are not here to judge them. Others are trying to get back on their feet & just need a little help. And then there are the ones that like the homeless lifestyle, because it is all they have known for so long. Most deserve our respect & some kind words, along with the food. :)
Today at one of the parks this man drove up in a cab & wanted to know what we were doing, so we explained it to him. He then wanted to know what church I am with & I told him that I do this on my own. Then he began preaching to me about his church & that I should go there. I told him that I like to teach by being an example. What I really wanted to say to him was that if he had picked up a spoon in the time he was preaching to me about doing God's work & attending his church, he could have served a bunch of the homeless their food & nurtured them some. So it is where we put our Priorities & our Love !! :)
I am really tired & it is almost midnight, but I will add more to this blog tomorrow.
It has been an awesome day !! :) Thank You Creator !! :)
Good Night everyone & sleep with the Angels !! :)
Monday, March 11, 2013
More Chili & Crackers
Since I had a big pot of Chili left over from Saturday I decided to go back to Santa Rita Park today in hopes to feed another bunch of hungry homeless people.
We went through half of the huge pot, so I headed over to Estevan Park, but didn't find one soul there & I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for Brother Dave's people to come with the soup & hot chocolate van. Driving by "Stone Park" at Stone & Speedway, I saw a lot of homeless there. Normally I don't go there, because I do not feel safe on my own there, but decided to stop since I had all this food left & it was still light out.
Altogether I fed 22 people tonight, but it felt more like 40. I guess it was because I was doing it by myself today, which rarely happens anymore. :) I so always appreciate all my helpers every time we go to feed !! :) It is such a gift of self to give up your Saturday evening to do this !! :) Thank you all once more !! :)
We went through half of the huge pot, so I headed over to Estevan Park, but didn't find one soul there & I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for Brother Dave's people to come with the soup & hot chocolate van. Driving by "Stone Park" at Stone & Speedway, I saw a lot of homeless there. Normally I don't go there, because I do not feel safe on my own there, but decided to stop since I had all this food left & it was still light out.
Altogether I fed 22 people tonight, but it felt more like 40. I guess it was because I was doing it by myself today, which rarely happens anymore. :) I so always appreciate all my helpers every time we go to feed !! :) It is such a gift of self to give up your Saturday evening to do this !! :) Thank you all once more !! :)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Chili for a cold & cloudy Day
Made two great big pots of Chili today & a huge salad to go with it, along with lots of crackers. :)
It wasn't a good day for feeding the homeless, since it was quite cold & drizzly & we were told that people had been stopping by Santa Rita Park all day with food already. There were actually more people at Estevan Park, which normally always has fewer. We only fed 23 people altogether.
So since I have a whole pot full of Chili left, along with a smaller one too, I am thinking of going back to the parks on Monday to serve the rest. Hopefully we will have some nice & warm weather then.
Time to get some rest now. Talk with you all again soon !! :)
It wasn't a good day for feeding the homeless, since it was quite cold & drizzly & we were told that people had been stopping by Santa Rita Park all day with food already. There were actually more people at Estevan Park, which normally always has fewer. We only fed 23 people altogether.
So since I have a whole pot full of Chili left, along with a smaller one too, I am thinking of going back to the parks on Monday to serve the rest. Hopefully we will have some nice & warm weather then.
Time to get some rest now. Talk with you all again soon !! :)
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