“I can sail without wind, I can row without oars, but I cannot part from my friend without tears." Hello everyone, Chantal here to tell you about how we spent our Halloween! :) So, today is the last full day of our trip. The last full day we get to spend in NYC. The last full day as a group. :’( Although we only met with God’s Love We Deliver today, we spent quite a bit of time in their headquarters and engaged in a few different activities. Afterwards we walked through much of the city exploring for the afternoon. In the evening, we watched the NYC Village Halloween Parade through the city. Overall, we all had a great time serving with our community partner, spending time with one another, and learning more about God’s Love and NYC. The day started pretty early, with all of us waking up before 7am and meeting with God’s Love by 8. God’s Love We Deliver is a non-profit organization that cooks and delivers meals (including entrees, sides, and desserts) to 7,000 people who are living with illness throughout the five boroughs. It started in 1985 with an emphasis on those living with HIV/AIDS and delivered about 50 meals a day on bicycles. Now God’s Love has expanded to include those who are ill and produces meals on a much larger scale. On a daily basis it cooks and packages thousands of the nutritious meals that meet the dietary needs of each of its clients and sends out about 30 drivers every day to deliver food packages in their vans. For our day with the community partner, we prepared ingredients for cooking, packaged food, and delivered frozen meals to people’s doorsteps. Although most of us stayed within the organization’s headquarters in SoHo and worked in the kitchen, a few of us joined drivers in the delivery process and traveled throughout Manhattan and to Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. For those nine staying in SoHo, they were in the kitchen with other more experienced volunteers to cut onions and later portion out bowls of soup and other foods. It seemed like they cut countless bags of onions; everyone had to go stand in the freezer to stop crying because their eyes wouldn’t stop burning otherwise. Afterwards, they came back from their break to prepare assembly-line style meals for kids and adults with different portion sizes, which ended up being a bit more difficult than expected. According to one of the chefs leading the operation, they have to limit the carb intake by packaging certain meals more conservatively because many of the clients are diabetic. Despite what may appear to be an insufficient amount of food for a person, the chefs must keep the clients’ dietary restrictions in account and prioritize their health. Overall, they packaged over 1,000 meals together! Aggie reflected “in general, the other volunteers were extremely nice and genuine. The work, while arduous and repetitive, felt rewarding because we knew the meals would go to people who needed them.” Alice was more appreciative of how they got to see one of the earliest stages in the process of preparing food for clients and see how it all starts to tie together in packaging. While those in back in SoHo engaged in the early step of the food making, a few others traveled throughout the city to experience the final step in food delivery. Hector, Joyce, and I joined different drivers in their vans to bring meals to the doorsteps of clients in four of the five boroughs. The 30+ drivers each have their own routes throughout the week and vans to deliver food in. Routes usually have about 60 clients each and last the whole day to deliver. However, routes are based on convenience in travel and there is no set number of clients for each one. Since many of the clients live in the same buildings or areas, they share the same stops. Most routes only have delivery dates on two days; the amount of food a client receives each time is dependent on the length of time in between delivery days. For each stop, the driver phones the client to alert them of the delivery and then walks up to their apartment to physically deliver them the frozen packaged meals. Although Joyce, Hector, and I virtually executed the same delivery process, we all had different experiences from one another due to our drivers and clients. Because of the evening’s parade, six of the routes were unfortunately canceled and others’ routes were shorter. God’s Love needed to figure out how they would deliver to clients on canceled routes. Hector and I went on abridged routes, but Joyce and her driver had a full route. Hector’s driver gave him a personal tour of the city and got to discuss service and society of different cultures and regions. Hector later informed us that in recent years, the first few floors of new apartment buildings have been reserved for the low-income, disabled population. He thought it was really interesting to be serving a similar subgroup throughout the route yet deliver to a variety of buildings, from old complexes with broken elevators to huge high rises. As for Joyce, she encountered a language barrier first hand on her trip and both she and the Spanish-speaking client had to deal with a lot of stress as a result. This client usually receives meals for the whole week, but for some reason she only had one package today. She tried to tell Joyce of the mistake in Spanish, but the difference in proficiency and the increasing worry and confusion prevented effective communication and a resolution to the issue from taking place. In the end, Joyce’s driver who is bilingual was able to assist and handle the client’s concerns. On my route, I was able to talk about the more social and emotional aspects of food delivery with my driver Irving. Irving has been with God’s Love for the past three and a half years and claims to be the best driver in the organization with his speed and efficiency. Our drive had a rocky start due to unexpected traffic caused by the evening parade and construction, and Irving was especially frustrated. Nevertheless he was able to weave through the sea of cars and quickly drive to Brooklyn. It was clear that he knew the route and clients like the back of his hand by how well he maneuvered through the crowded streets and his ability to recall the exact location of every client’s room. After seeing how annoyed Irving got at every other reckless driver and listening to how exhausted all his commitments keep him, I asked him why he does what he does. Irving said his favorite and most worthwhile part of the job was making his clients happy. On days when he doesn’t feel like talking to anyone and he gets to drop off food for clients whose families can’t afford to visit them, everyone gets to laugh over a few jokes and connect with each other for a little while. I can definitely see it. With how frequent and regular these delivery routes are, it makes sense that drivers and clients are able to build relationships with one another and would know about each others’ lives. I even heard Irving call a few of older female clients on the phone ‘Ma’. It’s an understatement but it’s really nice to know that service has no limits and can influence countless lives for the better. Overall, we all had eye-opening and really engaging experiences with God’s Love We Deliver. Ruby pointed out later that this working alongside members of this organization really demonstrates the differences between vertical and horizontal charity. Instead of vertical charity where more privileged individuals may offend members of disadvantaged communities with condescension and lack of understanding, horizontal charity puts both groups on a more even plane and allows for cohesion, compassion, and shared work. Alice said it was easy to forget what impact service can have when work gets a bit tedious and tiring. She explained that at first she hurried through packaging soup for the meals because of the huge amount of bowls she had to fill. After remembering that these meals will be delivered to and eaten by actual people, she slowed down and took her time in making sure the soup was spooned with care and effort. Leyla thought that the “assembly line [was] a good testament to our teamwork” and that everyone in the kitchen did an amazing job. For me, I was surprised to see how social God’s Love is and how warm all the interactions are. Because the organization differs from traditional soup kitchens I had worked in in that cooks don’t meet with their clients, I didn’t expect for there to be many personal interactions between them and the staff. However, the drivers play this role by being aware of their clients’ needs and advocating for them when necessary. Joyce also informed us of God’s Love’s policy of staff members in administration, food prep, and delivery where every individual has to do each special task with the company annually, ensuring that everyone stays grounded and appreciative of each role. (Check it out at: https://www.glwd.org/ ) After the people who went with drivers arrived back in headquarters, we ate our lunches and left at the end of our shift. In the afternoon, we got to try Do, a cookie dough eatery, visit NYU’s library, and hang out in Washington Square Park. For about an hour we watched street performers liven up a large crowd, entrepreneurs set up stands promoting their special talents and products, and a mini NYU Halloween march take place. We also got told off by a full-time park poet, witnessed a Spiderman showdown, and debated the criteria for streetwear. After that, we explored Hamlet’s Vintage, a vintage consignment store, and chilled by the Hudson River Park. As we walked along the Hudson River, we passed by a rock with a quote by poet Audre Lorde etched inside of it: “Without community there’s no liberation… But community must not mean a shedding of our differences. Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.” This argument really spoke to me; it’s all too relevant to this trip and is so meaningful because of both having emphasis on acceptance and inclusion. Each of us on this trip came from different academic and personal backgrounds, yet all of us were able to bond through service learning and exploring the most diverse city in the United States. We embraced our diverse perspectives and experiences to enlighten one another about the socioeconomic barriers to and socio-psychological consequences of treatment. Coming as college students from Princeton, we didn’t share in privilege and understanding from our community partners and their clients. However, through compassion, time, and effort, we were able to find safe spaces to talk about our thoughts and discuss possible solutions to our issue. After exploring the Hudson River Park and posing by the pier, we finally got to eat dinner at Shake Shack and then head off to the Village Halloween Parade. Overall our last full day was beyond our imagination, from crying and freezing over chopped onions, to making silly bets about strangers, to getting creeped out by people in morph suits, to appreciating the good in humanity. Thanks for sticking around until the end; happy Halloween y’all! Love, Chantal Quotes of the Day:
Driver: “Are you scared of the hood?” Chantal: *croaks* “No…” Driver: “She a gangster!” “I had fun today, even though I cried.” - Leyla *in the kitchen assembly line* Sarah: “I’m tired." Alice: “The Industrial Revolution will do that to you.” “Telling your parents that you got [into Princeton] is not flexing.” - Ben “But with a straw you’re like” - Shayla
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