Cheerful

Just wanted to stop by and let you all (the great subjects of this blog and anyone else who still drops by) know - that some images from this blog made it all the way to to the top. They appeared in a video that Second Harvest Food Bank submitted to USASERVICE.ORG. Here's the best part... ready?

It won first place.

This news caused me to dance a little jig around my house last night for the people in the photos will be overjoyed to know that Mrs. Obama had taken a second out of the most exciting week of her life, to look into their eyes and get it. . Check it out on their blog, here.

While you're over there, sign up for something in your own community. It's as simple as typing in your zip code..

Also, Happy 2009 to everyone. I miss making regular posts here and hope to resurface this page in the near future.

Joseph Storehouse, 9am

Pastor Robert Evans speaks to volunteers before the monthly food giveaway.

Mr. Kemp

Tony

"This is only the second time I've been here," he said. "I don't want to come unless I absolutely have to."

Kennedy's doll

Mom called her Dirt Dauber, but her real name is Kennedy. The doll is Britney (that of course, could change). I made a picture of Kennedy, she made one of me. I made one of Kennedy's doll. She made one of me. We did this for about three rounds while her mom waited for a food box.

Bethesda Center in Ashland City

This is just a little annex at Bethesda where they keep furniture. The brick building next door (you can just see the edge of it), houses their food pantry and thrift store.

Patty, Sandy and Chris, part of Bethesda's dream team of volunteer/employees, on their way to lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Bethlehem Center

Here are just a few more shots from the Bethlehem Center's food pantry on Charlotte Ave. The food pantries are set up by zip code, for readers who may not know already. If someone needs food, they generally would go to the food bank in their zip code.

Those kids all go together. Aren't they great? They were so well-behaved it was scary. Of course, they weren't without supervision, but still. That's a crew.

Super Mom

A new beginning

After months of grief from the loss of her home, Joyce (on the right), finally went to the Help Center and got a voucher for household items. She went home with a set of dishes, a couple of lamps, some silverware and towels. The only thing the fire didn't claim was her car and the nightshirt she was wearing.

I have to apologize to all the guys at Bethlehem Center on Charlotte Avenue. When I said those pictures would be posted today, I was delusional. Check back around Monday, they'll be here. Meanwhile, look around. Comment. Have a nice weekend and thanks again.

Eric

Gerricka

We're coming up on the last week of summer. School starts on the eleventh of August here. It goes by so fast, although maybe not fast enough for parents. All summer long, agencies around town (and presumably the country) have fed breakfast to some of America's coolest kids. I didn't get that off a press release either. Fortunately, I was afforded the opportunity to meet them in person. Maybe it's the heat but when I asked if they were looking forward to the first day of school, their excitement was palpable. It made me want to go out shopping for a new spiral notebook.

Just learning

About to start a new job in two weeks, Brandy and her three beautiful kids, returned to Nashville having tried and failed, to make a start somewhere else. The defining issue in her case was childcare. She had a great job but was still having to pay three hundred fifty dollars a week for childcare alone. A novice in the area of social services, Brandy came to the pantry this day, for the very first time, hoping to bridge the food gap until her new job begins.

Bus stop

I offered to bring the grocery cart back from the bus stop. Mr. Patterson was concerned that someone else might need to use it. On the short walk over there, we didn't talk about what brought him to this place or the ninety degree heat, or the fact that he'd had to not only ask for food but also for the bus fare to get back across town. We talked about dentists and Nashville drivers, the price of gas and the war.

Rose and Mr. Patterson, shopping for clothes

Mr. Patterson rode the bus over to Madison from different part of town. He got off the bus not really knowing where to go. Luckily, the second church he went to was affiliated with the food pantry and gave him directions to get there. He didn't know he'd get to pick out five pieces of clothing at the thrift store to go with the food box so, surrounded by women, he asked for their advice (smart man) on his choices and got plenty of answers. It ended up being a lot of stuff to haul back across town on a bus but Ed wasn't complaining; in fact he thanked every one, repeatedly.

New friends and old ones

Some years ago, Rose Nicks left a relatively fluffy white-collar job to run the Christian Cooperative Ministry in Madison.

"I'm a nicer person because of it", she says. "Before, I would look at the homeless people and I'd look at different people in the community and go: Why don't they get a job? Why don't they do something? but you never know what their story is. You just don't."

Just off Gallatin Rd.

Don't think for a second these ladies won't hook you up with a food box if you need it. And that's just the beginning. They run the Christian Cooperative Ministry in Madison. It's a food pantry and thrift store, supported by sixteen different churches in the surrounding community. Like everyone, they have some regular customers and some that are only temporarily needy or displaced. From left to right we have: Irene, Rose, Millie, Edyth, Irene, and The Captain, Flo.

Aaron

Aaron grew up in Memphis. He used to shine shoes at Warren's Barber Shop when he was a kid; went to school with Issac Hayes. Aaron joined the Army when he was old enough. They trained him to be a machine gunner and he went to sniper school right on the cusp of the Vietnam War. He missed combat, but not by very much. After the Army, Aaron went to school and ended up working in the morgue at Baptist Hospital. When that got dull, he did a turn in the Navy. The war was nearly over by then. After the Navy, Aaron filled a variety of positions including Plant Manager, bio-hazard courier, and these days, just two months shy of his official retirement, laborer. Every time I've ever seen him he has a perfect (double military) crease in his pants. I'd ask him if he irons them himself but I already know the answer.

Aaron and a host of other working people, usually miss the food truck when it comes. By the time they get home from work, there isn't any food left but they manage to get by somehow anyway.

Attention food bank experts: Wikipedia could use your help in refining their definition of the term: food bank.