Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Holiday Season Sandwich Runs


Evening Sandwich Run - December 19th

Plans have been made to have a Sandwich Run on Friday, December 19th.

We will meet at the Dundas Community Centre at 6 pm and make up the lunches with the food that we all will pay for. (If you can't make it there for 6 pm, we can still accomodate you in the Run!) After making the lunches we will have a debriefing on what we will be doing and experiencing. Then we will go to the area that we will be covering and hand out lunches. When we are finished doing that, we will all meet up at a local Tim Horton's and discuss our experiences and ideas.

In total, from beginning to end, this usually takes about 5 hours of our time.

If you would be interested in participating in this run, please let me know!


Other Sandwich Runs
will be planned for daytime and during the evening between now and the week of January 5th as I will be on reduced hours during that time period.

If you have any suggestions on what days/times you would like to go out, please let me know.

Runs will be posted on here as well as on my Facebook group site: Cassandra's Homeless Initiatives in Dundas.

Sandwich Run - In Hamilton!

On Friday, November 7th a group of 5 of us hit the streets for our first ever Sandwich Run!

We gathered together and made up the lunches (which we each paid for), had our debriefing (Dan and I leading), then all headed into downtown Hamilton with 51 lunches in our hands.

The weather was on and off with rain, and it was rather cool out, but not too bad.

We were able to hand out 48 lunches on our walk and were able to learn a bit more about a few of the people we met. Enthusiasim was very high, and we possibly insulted a few people, but all in all, I would say we touched some hearts! I know my heart was moved, especially by one certain young lady we met.

Drenched and jublient from our accomplishments, we headed to a local Tim Horton's to talk about what we had experienced and what could be accomplished in the future. The nice thing about being a group of 5 doing this run was that we were all able to communicate about what we saw as we saw it.

This experience was an awesome eye opener for those who went who had never experienced anything like this before. For those of us who had, we were very pleased with how our first attempt to show love for those in need went!

Brain Storming Session

I was blest with a visit with Lisa W. in September! I decided this would be a great opportunity to do some brain storming with her and my other go-getter, Dan. So we sat outside in front of my house and threw around some ideas.

Dan is really enthusiastic and has some wonderful ideas.

For one, we would like to see the Sandwich Runs become a regular thing in our area. Ideas to get more people is to appeal to local singles groups, churches, etc.

The idea had been tossed around quite frequently about having pot luck dinners with like minded people, inviting some of the people we meet on the Sandwich Runs.

Dan and I have been discussing the idea of approaching local businesses to get the employees on board with donating to the cause. The ideas were one dollar a pay or a penny for every hour worked.

Our long term goal still remains, though possibly in a slightly different mind set. We would like to see a shelter established where: the people staying there feel safe; that alcohol and drugs are not allowed; that allow the people that use the facility to feel appreciated and are given a respect, allowing for development of self worth.

Sandwich Run in Toronto

I had two volunteers who came out with me to Toronto to participate in Project 417's Sandwich Run on Friday, August 1st. We were grateful to have some food donations to add to the lunches we made for that trip.

The total number of people who went on this run were about 50 to 60! This was a wonderful showing. Though extremely pleased to see such a large number of volunteers, I felt the experience was not as touching for me as the first time I went. The larger number of people meant larger groups and less interaction with the people we met on the streets. All in all, it was still a good experience for the two people who came with me. It also brought me insight for sandwich runs in our own area.

So Far Behind!

Wow...

It's been a long time since I kept you up to date with what is going on with my Initiatives!

Let me first appologize, and second, bring you up to date!

I hope that you will be able to participate: physically, with donations (food or monitary), and/or prayerfully.

Thank you to everyone who encourages me and wants to be a part of helping our brothers and sisters in need.

Cassandra