Bob Van Daele Guest Writer, MDI
It was a chilly December Southern Californian morning in Simi Valley as Team Arrowhead from the Legacy Division (Southwest Region) circled up outside the Samaritan Homeless Center at 5:30 a.m. Members of our families and friends came together to assist the team in feeding the homeless as it was our first ever outreach as a team.
Abe Moore, the current Regional Coordinator, and myself went food shopping at Costco the night before, purchasing eight dozen eggs, four pounds of bacon, three pounds of sausage, 10 pound of potatoes, bread for toast, bagels, cream cheese, various fresh fruit, orange juice, coffee, and milk.
The morning of the outreach as we broke from a circle with a focused purpose, we tackled our assigned jobs. We had a 2-person team cutting potatoes, while another 2-person team scrambled the eggs, and another team prepared the eating area, and on and on. By 6:30 a.m. we had the potatoes fried, the eggs cooked and the eating area set up and ready to go as we began to feed the homeless guests.
For me personally, it touched me in a very profound way, as I saw the smiles on the guests enjoying a hearty breakfast. I felt grateful, and realized how blessed I am that we came together as a team of volunteers and made a difference in people’s lives that day. It was an honor to be a part of a incredible event that we will continue to undertake into the new year on a regular basis.
I was speaking with one of the homeless men and asked him how he was enjoying his breakfast. He put it in perspective for me by sharing, “This is much more delicious than eating out of dumpsters.”
Ho!