Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 9, 1988, edition 1 / Page 9
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Helping the hungry at Christmas time . . By LEIGH PRESSLEY ,Staff Writer uring the. holidays the spirit of giving can be demon strated in manv ways. For .he homeless, hungry people of our !ommunity, the Inter-Faith Council C- (1FC) and Meals on Wheels provide XX that sense of holiday generosity. . According to Audrey Layden, FC chairman of community rela ; lons, the council "is an organization ! ; t"hat tries to catch people who fall "iiuugu nit saiti iici. IFC is mostly dependent on t . .volunteers except for a few posi $'jions. It involves around 500 to 700 v Volunteers and 37 area church con- -ftregations from the community. JtJ; Layden said that a volunteer staff rt gives the council more freedom. '''Because leadership changes every I; t;; year, we can be flexible, creative and .able to take a look, at things, she jtaid. "We don't get in a rut." t The community kitchen is one J;service offering meals to the home ?;fess or to anyone off the street. In ?November of 1982 the IFC opened the kitchen on Rosemary Street and later moved it to a bigger location on Merritt Mill Road in 1985. Last v.lyear the kitchen served 23,452 meals oL-ii to the hungry. a: . The kitchen employs the majority of volunteers about 150 to 200 i. overall. Each day a different congre '; gation agrees to volunteer. The con 'j iK-gregation coordinator works to M '3 ensure that members are organized and present on their assigned day. In addition seven kitchen monitors 'i-Vn.take one day a week at the kitchen 'V.'.to provide continuity, take care of .'."conduct problems and oversee any '. ' problems with food distribution. v Layden said the community kit- . n chen has been very fortunate. "A lot of people can do something concrete about the problem," she said. Instead of getting frustrated, they can do something about it. Some body ate today because I went and worked." , Breakfast is served at the kitchen five days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. The meal usually averages about 20-25 people. Lunch, which r. ....was originally five days a week, is i I now seven days a week during the ' noon hour. Lunch serves the most people, approximately 45. Dinner is primarily for shelter clients instead of walk-ins. ' The community kitchen uses an .open door policy. Anyone can walk ; " in off the street, no questions asked. ; ','The only rules are the obvious: no ' -" violence, no abusive language, no ( alcohol or other substances, no loud ' 4 ';noises or disturbances and no wea- '- pons. A ballet to -.! celebrate the season -V. By CARA BONNETT f9&ff Writer '. The Chapel Hill Ballet Company ' ' - will dance its way into a holiday mood .;r.'with the performance of its latest -. ' ballet, "The Nightingale," this o i : weekend. "The Nightingale" is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The ci: Emperor and the Nightingale." 0 According to Mliss Dorrance, the - company's artistic director, the ballet '.-tells the story of the emperor of '! China, who brings a nightingale to 'v'his palace to live with him and his ."courtiers. - : : "They live an artificial life based ' 'on artificial beauty," Dorrance said. - ''That's one of the main ideas in the I ballet, that true beauty is what we 'I; have in nature." When the emperor is given a gilded mechanical bird by the emperor of :y. Japan, though, the nightingale is 'i:. forgotten, and it is only when the - emperor and his courtiers finally ; break the toy bird that they realize 1 : their neglect of the nightingale has driven it away. However, the night- .rngale returns in the end to save the emperor's life. "The ballet has a nice holiday . . '.'message about sacrifice and being !'j 'willing to serve others," Dorrance . I said. . f The show, which features 25 child X.'.'ren from the community, is not just -.via show for children. "The color and . '.'richness of it all is something all ages can appreciate," Dorrance said. The ballet was choreographed by ;s- Dorrance, Carol Richard, Barbara Bounds Milone and Joy Javitz. The ; '; backdrop for the show was designed ..:by Duke University artist-in-; k residence Wenhai Ma. . ': This year marks the company's .: 10th anniversary. Since its beginning in 1978, the company, which is made rup of both students and professionals, has made more than 100 appearances in schools in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and the surrounding area, - in addition to its twice-yearly concerts. The Chapel Hill Ballet Companv will present The Nightingale at the Cultural Arts Center in Chapel Hill Senior High School on Sat., Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sun., Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. Admission will be $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for child ren. For further information, call 942' 1339. John Caldwell, a community kit chen monitor for the past three years and an IFC volunteer for the past six years, said that, for the most part, people are grateful for the ser vice. "Most of them are thankful," he said. "They say the blessing before they eat, and then they sit around and laugh, play cards, or watch TV." As a monitor Caldwell is respon sible for keeping peace at the kit chen. The most difficult part of his job, he said, is sometimes enforcing the rules. "The hardest thing is hav ing to put them out of the kitchen for a few weeks," he said. "I don't like to do it, but it's part of my job. On Thanksgiving Day, a full dinner with all the trimmings is pre pared. For Christmas, a special holi day meal is also given to the hungry. The community kitchen also deco rates the building and collects gifts for its annual Christmas party. On the day of the party, the gifts are distributed to those who come in. While some of the gifts are useful things such as sweaters and socks, others include things such as per fume. Layden said she felt that both the ients and the volunteers gain rewarding experience at the com munity kitchen. "The people have a place to go," she said. "They can interact with other people without alcohol or other substances. They have a place where they're welcome." As a volunteer, Layden said, "You begin to realize that you are valuable as an individual. Individu als working together can make a difference." At the shelter there are also valua ble lessons to learn about reality. "Walking around Chapel Hill and The DailyTar HeelFriday, December 9, 19889 and all vear round - ... , . : Carrboro, you see beautiful com munities," Layden said. "You never see poverty some people deal with until you get involved as a volunteer." A food pantry of canned foods and non-perishable items is also available to those who have no access to food. The pantry is located in the Inter-Faith Council building on Wilson Street. Groceries are donated by area congregations, schools and scout groups. Last year, 1,545 clients were given free bags of groceries at the food pantry. Meals on Wheels is another area organization that offers food to the hungry during the holidays as well ' ; .. as year-round. To get the help of the organization, a volunteer first visits the home to determine actual need and to set up a sliding scale. If peo ple are not able to pay, the organiza tion charges them less. Meals on Wheels also depends on volunteers. Over 100 volunteers take an average of 80 hot lunches a day to Chapel Hill, Carrboro, southern -Orange county and Bingham Town ship. All meals are prepared by Classic Food Services. Volunteers also bake desserts for the hungry. ? V ' 7dDDS ! 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Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 9, 1988, edition 1
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