UCM's Community Feast

For those of you who've seen "Fight Club," you'll likely remember that the main character loved attending group therapies, saying they made him feel more alive. I may not attend free meals for the same reason, but boy, do I attend a lot of them. I interviewed a couple people at one particular meal, Thursday Supper, held at United Campus Ministries on College St. How does this pertain to the blog? you may be asking. Well, besides serving cheap college students like me, UCM caters its meal toward those in need.

Here's what got me caught:

First off, I interviewed a senior volunteer by the name of Essam Mikhail. Mikhail said the meal has been going on for 16 years now; he was involved in its early stages and only just recently came back to help. The meal is funded with money from the Student Activities Commission and donations from the community.

"We're perpetually short," Mikhail said, "but we do our best."

How short? According to the director of the operation, Lauren Reilly, a senior at Ohio University, UCM gets a mere $40 a week to cover Thursday Supper, and $25 to cover Saturday Lunch. Yet they manage to serve at least 20 people each Thursday. Indeed, the one change Mikhail would make to the program is to get a more "secure" funding source.

When asked why he chooses to volunteer, Mikhail jokingly replied, "Because I have no life." He added," I enjoy volunteering. I've been volunteering most of my adult life. And this is so much in demand."

Judith Svendsem, another volunteer, said she worked at the Supper because "it gives (her) a sense of satisfaction. For one thing, you meet a lot of people." She emphasized one thing, though, which I found interesting: "It's not about poverty. It's a community meal."

Here's Mikhail and Svendsem enjoying their meal:

I also interviewed Reilly a bit more in-depth. She's been directing the Supper for only six weeks--just this quarter. She said she does it partly because it's an internship for her major, social work, and partly because she likes the communal atmosphere, the values UCM has, and the enjoyment she gets from it. In the future, she wants to make the meal more community-oriented. "Many students come and eat, and feel bad if they're not volunteering; it shouldn't be that way," she said.

In terms of preparation, Reilly plans meals on Tuesdays, shops Thursdays, and starts cooking at 4:00 (the meal starts at 5:30). She's usually done around 7:30.

Reilly estimates that around 10 percent of the people who eat Thursday Dinner are students, another 10 percent "regulars," and the rest those who "really need it."

"The majority of the people need the food," she said.

According to one regular patron, one person at the dinner that night actually "lives in the woods" and goes to Good Works regularly.

Here's pictures of Reilly and the general lay of the land:


Until next time!

On Friday I had orientation for Passion Works. It went swimmingly; the director acted warmly and the artists I saw seemed enthusiastic. I only had two slight hang-ups. One--I'm definitely no artist. Volunteers are expected to assist with drawing and painting, as well as many other motor-intensive tasks at which I claim absolutely no aptitude. But alas, it's a learning opportunity. Two, the director told me to write strictly "positive" things about the artists.

At first, I balked at this command. How could I keep things "real" if I wrote on a sunny, superficial level the whole time? After a few minutes, however, I reconsidered: by "positive," I don't think she meant to gloss over the artists' shortcomings. She simply wants me to write respectfully, compassionately. Of course I'm not going to dwell on the fact that these artists have disabilities; that would be redundant.

To use her words, I'm going to write from a "people first" perspective, conveying the stories of artists who happen be disabled, and not disabled people who happen to be artists. By the same token, that doesn't mean I'll avoid the fact of disability. It's just going to be a secondary consideration.

I took pictures of various fixtures on display, but unfortunately, due to technical issues, I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to post them.

On another note, while researching poverty in Athens, I turned up an interesting statistic. As of 2007, 65% of people in Athens earned income below the poverty level, and 41% of residents earned income below 50% of the poverty level--a discomfiting fact to say the least.

More on that, stay tuned for the next post (after I post the slideshow), where I interview a local church about their free lunch program.