Over the last couple of weeks Jenn and I have both been working diligently on legal and cook off stuff.
Friday the 19th we received our business cards. Now that may be small beans to some people but that’s the first time in my life I’ve felt ‘official’, lol… I also met with one of the judges to discuss some basics on rules for both the judges and entrants. Went well but still so much more research to do.
Saturday the 20th I prepped about 100 sandwiches and 75 bagels to be handed out on Sunday. (I actually bought a 10lb block of ham at Sam’s Club and then had to figure out how to slice it-after the fact, lol… A mandolin sure did come in handy :p)
Sunday the 21st we met at The Coffee Groundz to carpool/ride together to hand out the food and well as some desserts. We send a huge thank you out to Lee Llanes and Aaron Harms for volunteering their Sunday with us.
Now I’ve done this before (helping the homeless) but I think I was running low on emotions that day. I was robbed late Saturday night. Up until six. Sleep until seven. Up at eight. I didn’t want to be late to our first handout.
*sigh*
Hands so rough.. faces so weathered.. some eyes so empty and some still so full of life. We saw one man crossing the highway to go share with another man at an abandoned gas station. We stopped at a house of a man who used to be a preacher but had been cast out by his congregation, a man I’ve visited before. A house decorated with art and scripture you’ve probably seen it from the highway.
Most of the day I was in tears. (I am unemployed and most of the day I was consumed with how much I truly had. Not many possessions but a loving family and a roof over my head.) No matter how these people have gotten to where they are now, they are someone’s child, mother, father, sister, brother… and their life is hard. So grateful for what little we had to offer… no matter how many time I’m out there, it’s always a truly humbling experience.
~side note: we will be meeting every other Sunday at 10am at The Coffee Groundz to go out and distribute food. Feel free to join us!!~
Tuesday the 23rd Jenn and I got together to go over 501c3 questions and to touch base on the cook off.
Friday the 26th we opened a bank account for Noah’s Kitchen. Also we purchased a membership to Sam’s Club. (We’re totally going to need it! )
Tuesday the 2nd I drove out to Saint Arnold and picked up a wonderful gift basket they so graciously donated for the cook off.
Wednesday the 3rd I met with the ‘head judge’ to finish details on the judging rules. Oh what fun!
Thursday the 4th Jenn and I met with one of our sponsors Melaroo. The meeting gave us much insight on what we need to be focusing on and the best ways to handle them. (It’s always great to talk with someone who has much more experience than I do. Which has been most of this cook off journey, lol)
Anyway.. it’s late, I’m going to bed.
Much love,
~A.
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Mike Calimbas
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