Day 187: Volunteering at the Salvation Army Kitchen

Patricia and Sophia here....with me as the scribe for our volunteer experience at the local Salvation Army kitchen, located in nearby Framingham. We had signed up to serve dinner tonight, through a project sponsored by St. Theresa's, but we really didn't know what to expect. When we arrived, we found the point person from our parish, who immediately had us working; there was lots to do as they were short on volunteers tonight. I barely had time to snap a picture!
Sophia was immediately asked to set up the cupcakes for dessert.The diner-in-waiting that was watching her asked "Are those special cupcakes?" Which of course, to the knowing meant, "Are they made with drugs?" So I quickly responded, "Yes, they are special, like all the food that was made for you tonight". But it didn't end there. He said to Sophia, "You know, special cupcakes are made with marijuana in them." Naturally, my daughter the recent D.A.R.E graduate knew to say, "None of that stuff here!" It was then that I knew I would not let Sophia out of my sight! So together we poured all the lemonades, tossed the salad, washed all the trays and helped clean up all the tables at the finish. It was a remarkable experience, really, for Sophia to be working amidst such diversity and "curiousity." We were surprised to learn that the diners are all asked to be silent and remove hats for prayer before the meal, and that everyone (regardless of their presentation or orientation) is enormously gracious and patient, and that most diners were very sweet in offering gratitude for our support. We both agreed that those individuals who organize and execute these meals are to be commended. Truly, it takes a village.
So we left, waving to all our new friends clustered outside the Salvation Army entry, only to discover that the van was not working properly and sounded like one of those way to loud mortorcycles, only letting us crawl out of town at 15 mph. Which we did, since breakfast with our new buddies was not the preferred option! So we are home and now off to the local Auto Repair shop for a new muffler. But at least we have a roof and warm meals every night, right?