What is the relationship between Connecticut, 1.1 Million, and 11,000 people? If you haven't worked with Food & Friends, the relationship may be a little difficult to determine.
Connecticut
Every two days, Food & Friends delivers to an area the size of Connecticut (5,544 sq. miles, in case you're not familiar). 6 days a week, every week of the year, regardless of the weather, Food and Friends & their teams of volunteers are out delivering meals to clients. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they deliver to clients outside the Washington Beltway (Maryland and Virginia) and inside the Beltway Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Just imagining how much area this one organization covers, all from just one kitchen, is incredible.
1.1 Million
1.1 million is the number of meals Food & Friends will deliver this year. Food & Friends started in 1988 delivering lunch to just one client. In the decades to follow, it has grown to providing three meals a day to over 1,450 individuals. These clients range from individuals living on their own with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or some other illness, to families with sick members; Food & Friends feeds them all. Wealthy or poor, "healthy" or sick, capable or handicapped, Food & Friends mission to provide meals to anyone that needs them. In some cases, Food & Friends will provide groceries to a family that cannot afford them but like to cook on their own, in other cases family members are too sick to prepare meals, so Food & Friends will send prepared meals for them and their families. Food & Friends has a team of dietitians and chefs that help tailor meals for people that require a mild (not spicy), no diary, pureed, no fish, no meat, diabetic, or a combination diet that fit the needs of the individual, along with preparing standard meals for the other family members. Some things that I found incredible about this experience with Food & Friends was the specificity of the diets they can service, and their commitment to quality. Not only are the meals healthy, they are tasty, and look good. Having eaten a number of meals during the week, we were amazed by this. All of this would not be possible without the final number.
11,000
The number of volunteers that spend time at Food & Friends every year. We were privileged enough to meet a number of people that volunteered and worked at Food & Friends. From senior groups that came once a week to prepare meals, family members of persons with HIV/AIDS, survivors of the illnesses, politicians, students, and everyone in between, Food & Friends could not continue with their brigade of volunteers. Despite the large number of volunteers, we felt welcomed and appreciated by all the staff members; every staff member we met we're extremely passionate about the organization's mission and eager to work. Not a single encounter went by when a staff member wouldn't say thank you. Everytime they asked us to do something, we received a thank you. Having done other social justice work, I could not believe the passion and genuine compassion we received from the staff. When we reviewed the site binder, we noticed the previous year's site leaders wrote that the staff were the best part of the trip, and we kind of laughed. Sure enough, this fact is going into next year's site binder.
We had an incredible week with Food & Friends and we couldn't have done it without the support of all the participants, the ASB lead team, SERVE staff members, the University of Michigan, and all our donors. As a graduating senior this will trip was my last undergraduate spring break, and I honestly cannot think of a better way, or a better group of people to spend it with. Thank you all again!
- Jeremy (Co-Site Leader)
P.S. If you'd like to learn more about Food & Friends and potential donate your time and/or money to organization, please check out their website at http://www.foodandfriends.org/
Capitol Hill
Touring the Air and Space Museum
Washington Monument
Abe Lincoln's top hat worn on the night of his assassination
Girls' night out at the fortune teller's/jazz lounge
