The
Word from the Streets - December
14, 2002
 Holiday
Street Meals
How much fun can one group of people have? Oh my God,
holiday street meals was over-the-top fun. So many
smiles, laughter and love. Yes, love! There was so
much love on the streets that day. When scrolling
through the photos of the day's activities, one could
see smiles everywhere. We had such a huge group of
volunteers come with us to the streets that day. It
was so cold, but that didn't seem to take any of the
joy out of the day. The first activity of the day
(well...after we loaded up all the goodies) was having
the guys hold up a huge WE LOVE YOU MA sign. After
several pictures were taken, the day truly commenced.
I've got to say that we did a darn good job with the
orchestration of the lines. There were several hundreds
of guys that came through the line. The flow was slow,
but steady. This gave several of "first time"
volunteers an opportunity to chat with the guys while
they waited in line. Many had not ever experienced
such closeness to the homeless folks.
 For
some people the day was a party, others a humbling
experience. All of the items in the goodie bags were
donated through various businesses. The
Flying Biscuit baked over four hundred cookies.
Each cookie was individually decorated, wrapped and
sealed with the sweet message "Peace, Love"
Yep...lots of love from our friends at The Biscuit.
There was chap stick, socks, cough drops, gloves,
tissues, and candy canes also in each bag. In addition
to the bags, our guys had a choice of a blanket or
sweat suit. Alex's company she works for, Russell
Athletics, generously donated hundreds of sweats to
us. Many of the guys told us how important all of
this was to them. The cold weather is really hard
on them. At the beginning of the day, Mahadev told
us all that he wanted to dedicate this day to our
Daniel (above, with the author). Daniel
was one of our dear friends that passed recently in
the shelter at Peachtree and Pine. I know he was there
with us during this day.
 There
is such bliss in service. To be able to connect and
love others unconditionally is an amazing gift. Time
is such a funny thing. It seems when one is doing
service work, time doesn't matter. It's so beautiful
to be full on in the moment. Nothing else seems to
matter. Striving to be in the moment is what it's
all about! I want to thank our
Neem Karoli Baba, Ma
Jaya Sati Bhagavati and of course our beloved
Jaya Devi Bhagavati
for making this an experience and lifestyle for so
many of us.
With deep gratitude and love,
Sadhu
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Street Meals
helps alleviate hunger for the homeless population in
Atlanta. Every Tuesday from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m., volunteers
prepare meals at Kashi Atlanta. The next day at lunchtime,
we distribute 300 meals or more in downtown Atlanta.
Street Meals is supported by a dedicated corps of volunteers
who are committed to seva - selfless service –
as an extension of their yoga practice. Teaching people
about the joy of community service is a part of our
commitment.
We have just begun. We are working with different shelters
and organizations with similar goals to expand the assistance
available on our streets. We believe that there are
no throw-away people.
We also need financial contributions. We can feed someone
a good meal for $1.00, so no donation is too small or
too large.
We need volunteers to help make and distribute meals,
to organize pick-up and delivery of food donations,
to pick up donations, and to shop for food that hasn’t
been donated. You can also sign up to donate any of
the items above, make cookies or muffins, get your employers
to donate, or find us a source for bread, chips, drinks,
and other food. Get involved and you really can make
a difference. Learn to live from the heart and give
from the heart.
For more information about Street Meals, contact Ty
Mahadev Bittner, our Service Programs Coordinator.
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