A friend and I arose very early this morning and arrived at the shelter kitchen at 8 a.m. to help Doug get the big feast prepared and set up. He's been planning for weeks and cooking for days. The spiral-cut hams where hot, and we sliced them into serving sizes and filled plates with ham, potato salad, sweet potato casserole, green beans, and rolls. And that was for the mid-afternoon meal. We also had the regular lunch to prepare.
I made the soup, of course. Not wanting to overfill our diners before the big feed, we gave them only soup, crackers, and fruit for lunch... however, 45 minutes before serving time we realized we had NO BOWLS. Imagine 4 gallons of soup and no bowls on Christmas morning!
There were six or seven volunteers slicing pies and setting up the dining room, so one of them offered to fetch bowls, but first we had to locate an open store that had such things. We called around and found a pharmacy which claimed to have large Styrofoam cups, so our volunteer set forth to fetch them. She returned with a few dozen cups and 2 or 3 dozen actual bowls! In the end, it was more than we needed, but she did get the last of that store's supply, and we were grateful.
The pre-release numbered about a dozen today, but I had expected the majority of them to be with family. They were not jolly, but most of them approached us with sincere Christmas greetings. Then the homeless residents came through. They too, offered holiday greetings, but again the mirth was missing. This was my first Christmas day at the shelter, and the atmosphere was probably "normal" for that event, but efforts were made to brighten the day. We even had Christmas music playing in the dining room.
Call me a snot—I don't care—but "Angry Mom" came in with her boys while the pre-release were eating. As you know, those groups are not allowed to share the dining room simultaneously. She came to the coffee counter and told me she wanted a cup of coffee with half-and-half in it. No, we are not a full-service restaurant, and yes she was asking for special privileges and ignoring the rules. I looked over my shoulder at the clock. Her group would be coming in for lunch in 12 minutes, so I said, "Sure. Come back in 12 minutes." My friend gave each of the boys a little toy car, but the kids already had some new space-ship toys. We didn't see any of them again.
Our "big meal" volunteers pumped me hard for the skinny on volunteering there. How could they get a regular schedule for that? Who could give them permission? What is a pre-release? Were they really prisoners? It was all just so wonderful that they wanted to come back again and again! Yeah, sure—see you next week! …not.
Well… 4 hours on my feet were enough! My friend and I left at noon, after everyone had been served their "light lunch." A second group of volunteers was expected to arrive in time to feed "the 5000" in mid-afternoon—much like the 250 who came for the Thanksgiving meal. I'll pass.
Got my feet up now, but God willing, I'll be there again come Sunday. That silly Doug asked me if, since I worked today, I would be coming back on Sunday. Maybe just this once…
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