St. Andrews in Service
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” - Voltaire
5
“Feeding the Soul of the City: A Reflection of the Spring 2007
Mission Trip to Washington, DC’
I came back from my alternative
spring break mission trip and
wow. It opened my eyes so
much. We helped out at soup
kitchens and some other places
in Wasiiington, DC. I had
always been taught to basically
ignore or avoid homeless people
but most of them were actually
pretty nice and even though
they’re looking for some money,
if you don’t have any to give
them, just saying “hello” also
brightens their day. One of my
fi'iends gave someone $10 and
a few others gave a guy some
Vitamin Water and fries and
stuli'. We learned so much from
the workshops and everything
we had, too. We learned that
homeless people and poverty
stricken people (10% of poverty
stricken are homeless) are
just like you and me. They’re
looking for money, food, shelter,
and more importantly love and
resf>ect. WTiile I'm still hesitant
to open my wallet on a city
street, I plan on keeping some
money in my pocket next time
I’m in a city like D.C. or N.Y. so
that I can donate money to these
people. Most major cities have
newspapers that people who
have been homeless sell for
donations. Wehada few different
workshops, including one
about homelessness, one about
hunger and one about HIV and
AIDS. Our last workshop was
a writing workshop reflecting
something about the week that
we liked. Jesi wrote a story that
touched everyone in the room
and Lebda and Susan wrote
nice poems. I, being the shy girl
1 sometimes am, was hesitant
at first to say what I wrote but
1 finally decided to. (I did add
about how I’m usually not one
to raise my hand or share my
thoughts in classes and how I’m
almost always quiet in them).
Si. Andrews members preparing
food at the Soup Kitchen.
(from left to right): Melissa
Whittaker, Kalhryn Lebda, and
.Hm Ewing. Picture courtesy of
Lyndsey McCall.
At first I wasn’t sure what to
think about this trip since it
wasn’t my first choice. But I
really enjoyed it so much! (well,
except for getting up early each
morning - hehe — I’m not a
morning person). Loveaya,
Paul, Jesi, Jess, Lyndsey, Lebda,
Noel, Garrett, Chris, Reid,
Susan, Veronica, J-me, Brandy,
Ashley, and Rachel also went on
the trip. And we had 3 awesome
chaperones- Jim Ewing, Jenn
Bruner and Dan Ott. We
stayed at The Pilgrimage in
the basement and slept on
bunk beds; the Pilgrimage is a
Melissa Whittaker
church in Dupont Circle, one of
the more ritzy parts of the city.
One of the groups I was in (for
Monday and Friday), I wasn’t
with my closer fiiends but I was
always with some fi'iends Iknow
but don’t talk to all the time. It
worked out though, as it got me
to be a little more social. On
Monday, my group helped out
at the Church of the Brethren.
It was small and there weren’t
a lot of people who showed up.
We were told that this is because
some of the people have money
left over in the beginning of
the month. We prepared lunch
by cutting up potatoes and
pouring grease out of cans of
chicken and then going through
them to take out the bones. It
was gross, especially seeing
how much grease was in the
cans-and we had to use a lot of
canned chicken! Then we got
to help serve the lunches to the
people who came by. We also
had a chance to mingle with the
people, although I just stayed
in the kitchen and observed.
Some of the people seemed to
not want to be bothered, but
many of them were friendly
and had a good sense of humor.
On Tuesday we switched up
the groups a bit and my group
helped out at Food and Friends.
Some of the people in the group
bagged food up, while Lebda,
Jim and I packaged food into
containers. We had to get a
photo out by the Food and
Friends bus after were finished.
Wednesday brought us to DC
Central Kitchen, where we again
prepared and packaged food to
go out to people. This time I
worked with Jess and Veronica in
the kitchen, chopping up carrots
and putting pieces of chicken
into pans to go to &milies. We
worked with Chef Ernesto, the
best chef ever! Quite a few of
us also bought hoodies from
DC Central Kitchen, where
they are "‘feeding the soul of the
city.” On Thursday my group
helped out cleaning at Christian
Community Group Homes. It’s
a group home for the elderly.
Toward the end of working
there, some of us watched a bit
of “The Price Is Right” on the
TV there, haha. Friday was the
day when the other group went
to Church of the Brethren and
my group went to So Others
Might Eat (SOME). Originally
we thought that we were going
to do the same thing the other
group did-prepare and serve
food in the kitchen. Nope. We
were in the warehouse, sorting
through packages with soaps,
shampoos, notebooks, toys, etc.
We also had to fill a cart with
lots of cans of green beans;
for that we had an assembly
line going-yay for teamwork!
We didn’t watch TV and didn’t
have internet access or anything
at the Pilgrimage, so we colored
pictures from a coloring book
that Jesi brought, played cards
and played MASH. Another
group, fixjm UNC-Greensboro,
was staying at the Pilgrimage,
too. We also made something
called Warm Fuzzies. It’s
where you decorate a bag with
your name and then you write
messages to others and slip them
into everyone else’s bags when
they’re not around. Then at the
end you can reafi your “warm
fiizzies.” They can reflect
something about the week that
you enjoyed with the other
people and they can be uplifting
and bring a smile to your face;
a message ceui be as simple as
“It was great getting to know
you better this week. It’s been
wonderful!” The warm fiizzies
I got are probably going in my
scrapbook of the trip that I’ll be
making this summer. I may just
have to use that idea with the
Girl Scout troop I help out with.
We also had some fi'ee time
and went to the Holocaust
museum on Tuesday, March 6th.
That was an interesting museum
though we had to ponder why
most of our characters survived
when I heard most of them don’t.
We went to the monuments on
our own time: I saw the White
House, Washington Monument,
Lincoln Memorial and WWII
memorial when I walked around
the city at night with Lyndsey,
Lebda, Veronica, Garrett, Noel,
Paul and Jenn. On Wednesday
night we ate out at Ben’s Chili
Bowl, which we heard is pretty
famous in DC and on Thursday
a bunch of us traveled to the zoo.
Friday was spent helping gather
ideas for the poster our group
made (every group that stays at
the Pilgrimage makes a poster)
and shopping at Union Station.
It was just a week full of
“awesomesauce” and probably
the best spring break of college
I’ve had so far! My Spring
Break is definitely fiill of
memories, like seeing all the
smiles on tiie different people
we helped, and when it snowed
on Wednesday and we were
all throwing snowballs at each
other. And also, playing Catch
Phrase at night and just plain
hanging out with everyone.
I’m wicked glad for everything
I have and I’m glad for what I
learned this week. It’s been one
of the best experiences I’ve had
and I’m so glad I went on the
Mission Trip of Spring 2007!
(Oh and P.S., “I’m a Scat Man!”)
For more irrformation on
Hunger and Homelessness,
visit these websites:
WWW. capitalareafoodbank. org:
Capital Area Food Bank website
www.frac.org: Food Research
Action Committee website.
www.hread.org: Bread for
the World Website (includes
emails to the White House
and Congress, .so you can
help make a difference by
writing letters to them).
WWW. thehungersite. com:
Sponsored by corporate
donors, click to donate
food globally at no cost.
http://www.t hep ilgr image.
SAPC Mission Trip to Washington DC
Jamie Nickolson
This spring break I chose a different
experience than that of the year prior
which 1 spent in the nice Florida sunshine.
Washington D.C. sounded fun to me and
helping out the poor and homeless wasn’t
a bad trade off to go to a wonderful city.
I came back loving the fact that I helped
people and loving the people I helped
more than I even loved the visit and
the city, which I was most anticipating
in the beginning. We worked in various
soup kitchens, organized warehouses of
donated items for the poor, had a few
previously homeless people speak to
us, and even visited the local hot spots
in the city. It was a truly touching trip
and it changed my heart as I know it
did my fi'iends that also went. We met
a wonderfiil man named David Harris, a
gifted poet. The last day we were there
he came and spoke to us about creative
writing and had us write a reflection on the
week. It was a very touching experience
and a bonding one for all of us. I have
been recently studying topics in social
justice a lot so I tied those things into my
reflection. The response I got was quite
comical but very encouraging; I was
told “you should be the next president!”
I am not too sure about that but I am
hoping by sharing what I wrote it will
inspire thoughts in someone else’s mind
as well and possibly move this campus
toward an outlook of kindness and love
for those who have been oppressed.
We came up here to make an
impact on the homeless people of DC’s
lives. Instead something else entirely
happened; they had the most profound
impact on me. They taught me the
tragedy of this nation, culture, and these
external capitalistic forces. These people
I have met from David and Brenda, to the
random people on the street I’ve talked
to, to those I have fed at a soup kitchen
have dramatically changed my life. I
never knew the importance of a smile
or hello. I never knew the importance
of mutual relation both to keep off the
streets and to survive on the streets. Our
nation, through its culture, policies, and
individualistic ideals, drives most of us
daily to lose all mutuality between one
another, drives us to step on one another
to get where we are going, and enables
us to pursue only economic gain with
total disregard for the true fulfillment
in life such as love, justice, and God.
This type of culture certainly breeds
oppression as well. We need justice and
freedom from oppression; life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness are our
rights but someone has voided those
rights out for some of us. In my fight for
equality to come against the injustices
of sexism, racism, and speclesism I now
join in fighting against classism. We
cannot as single individual forces on this
earth believe that anything about us is
better or worth more than the attributes
someone else has. It is arrogant to think
that money, sexuality, race, religion, or
gender makes anyone better or more
worthy of power than the next person.
I suggest instead we use this power we
gain to help our oppressed people and
bring them up to equality with us and
those around us. This week has been
amazing for me to see ways of bringing
freedom to the people being oppressed
by this economical “rat race” based
on classism. My eyes have truly been
opened and my perspectives broadened.
VI
I'lHm
i'in§:\
-
St. Andrews members by the bus. (from
lefi to right): Veronica Gobeyn, Jessy
Gesel, Loveaya Magnus. Paul Benzie,
Melissa Whittaker, Brandy Gilbride,
Jessy Bewley, Kathryn Lebda. Jim Ew
ing, Chris Bennett and Lyndsey McCall.
Picture courtesy of Melissa Whittaker
St. Andrews campus Lions at the
District Convention in Southern
Pines, NC. (Left to Right): Lynd
sey McCall, Danielle Heider, Zach
Long, Andy Maginn, Metis a Whit
taker and Marshall Fuller Pic
ture courtesy of Lyndsey McCall.
Lions of St. Andrews Rejuvenating Dogwood Mile
Reid Mosher
the hope for the future of the then
“prepubescent trees” and what the
might come from their maturity.
The re-planting of the Dogwoods
is important to the Lions Club
and is one of a series of projects
that they will be undertaking as
“campus betterment activities”
to raise money for the club and
enhance the natural beauty of
the campus and its surroundings.
Working alongside Nick,
one of the head Landscapers on
“It just wouldn’t be Dogwood campus, several young students
Mile without the Dogwoods!” are will get their hands in the soil and
the words that Steve James spoke learn some tips and techniques
recently about the fungal blight of successful tree planting. The
attacking some of St Andrews first date for planting is scheduled
most valued trees. “We want to for March 31", to be followed by
re-plant some of the Dogwoods.” further Saturdays. The Lions of St
says James. The trees, planted Andrews are looking for anyone
in the early 60’s have an average interested in helping to renew the
lifespan of 100 years but have Dogwoods or contribute money
long since reached maturity, and to go towards buying new trees
some of them are showing signs of for the campus. Those interested
weakening. Ifever you get a chance are encouraged to join the “Lions
to flip through the triple thick Lamp of St Andrews” facebook group
and Shield yearbook of 1971, you online or contact Andy Maginn
would fine prose commenting on or Reid Mosher for more details.