840 Vernon Blog

Thanks to Mitch Rogatz, Fanchon Simons' Feeding the Hungry volunteer/driver, for sharing your experience! 

It’s "Feeding the Hungry Sunday," and I swing by the Am Shalom kitchen at 9:15am to find a few dozen happy, chattering - and very busy - Am Shalom’ers in different ‘stations.’ All along the long, shiny, stainless steel island they're making turkey sandwiches, packing up bananas, chips and desserts into lunch bags that are then square-knotted closed. Two of these lunches are loaded into a dozen extra-large lawn garbage bags. 

From there, I toss the bags into the front seat, back seat and trunk of my little convertible (along with a couple extra boxes of bananas) to make the very quick, 30 minute drive down to the Bethlehem Baptist Healing Temple - a few blocks directly west of the United Center.

I pull into the parking lot, nearby the back door, and 2 or 3 church volunteer regulars appear and begin unloading my car, placing piles of individual lunch bags on the top of a couple of long card tables.

By then,  the Sunday morning lunch line is forming, made up of the Sunday regulars — men and women who walk many blocks and take the bus during all kinds of weather.

After Reverend Rodney shares a blessing and reminds the group of how being thankful, showing appreciation and saying the two simple words - thank you - can be so powerful, a few of the church volunteers and I (during other Sundays there’s generally a family or two of Am Shalom volunteers) start handing out the lunches.

We volunteers line up, grab two lunch bags in each hand, and begin handing a couple of lunches to each person in line (which includes all ages of men and women and even some kids).   

Each recipient in line expresses their appreciation and thanks, shares a ‘bless you,’ thank you so much, ‘hey man- great seeing you again - how’s the Jag?!’ (my car)...

Most Sundays there are kids from Am Shalom who do most of the handing out (we adult volunteers do the back-filling, and hand bags to the kids, who in turn continue handing out lunches to the polite, enthusiastic recipients.

It’s very gratifying. Lots of good eye contact, appreciation, joking around, and hugging...

Join us on the 3rd Sunday of the month in the Am Shalom kitchen to make sandwiches and pack lunches! Volunteers are always needed to deliver and distribute the food. Please contact Nina Schroeder if you'd like to sign up to be a driver.