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Showing posts from September, 2010

Hunger Action Month: Week 4

Now that summer is finally drawing to a close it is time to start some garden clean-up and glean what is left from the garden beds.  Last week I took a moment to do that at the Verizon Telecommunications Beds that we have been using to donate the produce to Sugartree Ministries.   In clearing out the beds I cut down an entire sunflower forest and saved the heads (they're currently drying in the sun room in my office) as well as collected seeds from eggplant, basil, and dill.  This way I'm ready for more gardening when the season comes again next year and I'm already preparing for a delicious fall snack.   I also watched in hope at a few pumpkin seed sprouts that we planted in these beds.  At this rate we probably won't have pumpkins until December but if the pumpkins survive it will be a great winter treat for our patrons at the food pantry.   One more week of Hunger Action Month left to go.  I don't feel like I've made that much of a difference but a

Hunger Action Month: Week 3 Bust

Unfortunately, Hunger Action Month was a little bit of a bust last week.  I was sick for most of the end of last week and not only did I miss a day and a half of work, I was also out of town for a job interview with another VISTA position.   But, that does bring a point up about what its like to be hungry.  What do you do when you're sick?  If you're starving and you NEED to go to work...you're not staying home no matter how sick you are because you need that paycheck to eat.  I'm lucky enough to be salaried so that if I miss days I still get the same paycheck because of our sick day policy.  But hourly workers don't have that luxury.  What do you do?   So...is the workforce fair?  Does it discriminate against people who can't afford to miss days?  What do you think?

Hunger Action Month: Week 2

Once again my Hunger Action Month posts are written the week after they happen but its the Action not the post that counts right? My AmeriCorps*VISTA position has me working very closely with a food pantry/soup kitchen called Sugartree Ministries.   Sugartree Ministries serves over 1200 hot meals a week and touches approximately 500 people during its weekly grocery distribution.  As part of my position I am responsible for getting student volunteers over to Sugartree on a regular basis.   Saturday we celebrated the 9/11 Memorial Day of Service by hosting a clean-up project at Sugartree Ministries.  Usually when I plan projects like this I get about 6 girls and we do basic things like wipe down the tables and chairs and sweep in the kitchen before its time to go.   This Saturday I had 30 student volunteers!     Not only was it completely overwhelming to supervise 30 enthusiastic students who were more than happy to do the dirty work; it was also completely wonderful.  I ha

Hunger Action Month: Week 1

September 1st marked the 1st Day of Hunger Action Month so my coworkers and I celebrated by having a "Pumpkin Planting Party" so that we could hopefully have a few pumpkins to donate during the holidays. We planted "Sugar Sweet" pumpkins which are meant for eating instead of the usual Jack-O-Lantern variety.  They also grow a little faster, maturing in only 105 days.  Unfortunately, unless we get an early crop of pumpkins that still won't be in time for Thanksgiving...can you tell we're still new at this garden planning?! We were only able to plant a few places however, we now have pumpkins at a few of the school gardens, at the City of Wilmington Denver Park Demo garden, Sugartree Ministries and (really exciting) around the ECO houses on campus!  Since my contract is up before the pumpkins will have a chance to grow I really hope they get put to good use!  Everyone deserves a pumpkin pie for the holidays! Pumpkin sprouts in my office window.