The Dedication of our Leadership Volunteers

by Wyatt Massey

At a time when most of the city is sleeping in, leadership volunteers continue the Gathering’s ministry. Whether it’s team Home Fries, the Bay Leaf Bruisers, HaMM on Rye, or any one of the creatively-named cook and coordinator teams, these individuals provide a much needed service.

Cooks and coordinators are part of the reason the Gathering’s Saturday lunch is able to serve an average of 495 guests weekly at four sites. Every Saturday, volunteer cook teams prepare all of the food for the meal, followed by coordinators who facilitate the serving of the meal. These leadership volunteers go through an application and training process and commit to at least a year, although many end up sticking around a lot longer.

Vergie and Lucy at the Gathering’s Our Next Generation site

Vergie Bond, for example, has been a volunteer cook for 27 years at the Gathering’s north side site (Our Next Generation). Along with the King Solomon Cook Team, Vergie prepares meals every fourth Saturday of the month. 

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“It's about showing that you care about people. There’s such a need,” Vergie says.

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Lucy Evans, another member of the King Solomon Team, is inspired by the guests she meets each weekend. She enjoys stepping out of the kitchen to see people taking the time to slow down, sit and enjoy a meal together. Guests have even approached Lucy to ask if they could help out with the dishes because the food was so good.

“Those are the special interactions,” she said.

On the other side of the city, at St. James’ Episcopal Church, Jodi Martinez spends her time interacting with guests and volunteers on the serving floor. Jodi is a floor coordinator for the Saturday meal. After the cooking crew leaves for the day, Jodi directs volunteers and makes sure everything runs smoothly.

Bay Leaf Bruisers cook team prepares the meal

Being on the serving floor is important to Jodi. It is an opportunity to engage and make the site a welcoming place for guests. The same is true for the volunteer environment. Jodi recognizes the importance of making everyone feel part of something greater.

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“I love the community.” Jodi said. “Once you get to know the other volunteers, you become a family.”

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The idea of the volunteer group as family is found throughout the Gathering's meal sites. At the Gathering’s South Side site, Betsy Fryda, cook team leader for “Home Fries,” has cooked for the Gathering for five years. Her team is made up of workers from the Taste of Home magazine. Each team member is passionate about food, so the Gathering provides a unique opportunity to give back. “To be able to share you love with others is the ultimate volunteer experience,” Betsy said.

Betsy and the Home Fries cook team

Betsy, Jodi, Vergie and Lucy are just four of the 104 leaders who spend their Saturday mornings serving the hungry and homeless. These dedicated leaders donated 3,238 hours valued at $70,524 in fiscal year 2013-2014. Without their commitment, energy and enthusiasm, the Saturday Meal Program would not exist.

Wyatt Massey is a volunteer storyteller for the Gathering. Read more of his work here.

Curtis: Finding the Place the Lord Had Made

by Wyatt Massey

Curtis lending a helping hand in the Gathering kitchen

The song of blessing Curtis sings before each meal has a special meaning in his own journey from the streets to loving himself. Each morning at the Gathering, before the doors open to meal guests and the room is filled with laughs and conversation, a volunteer is asked to give an opening prayer.

If you are lucky, Curtis will raise his hand and volunteer. He will stand up and, with a voice fueled by faith, sing The Lord Has Made a Place For Me. The song blesses the meal, the volunteers and each guest. Beyond that though, Curtis knows the song has special meaning to his own story.

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“When I sing that song,” he says, gesturing to the kitchen and dining area of the Gathering, “This is what I’m talking about. Right here.”

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Curtis first came to the Gathering in 1993. He was living on the street, alongside his brother. At the time, the meal program offered a warm place to stay and a meal without questions. It was a consistent refuge compared to life on the street. A time of his life Curtis called “awful,” noting the uncertainty of each night.

“You didn’t know where you were going to lay down,” Curtis said. “Wondering where you were going to go, where you were going to be.”

Curtis lived on the street, on and off, for six years. The longest he stayed without shelter was a year and a half. Despite having a consistent paycheck, a drug habit kept him without decent savings. More than that, Curtis said it was a lack of self-respect that kept him on the streets.

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“I didn’t care about myself, but I’m changed now. I’ve got a better understanding of me and I’ve started loving myself again.”

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Part of that change included volunteering. After his first meal at the Gathering, Curtis approached Josephine, the program coordinator, and asked if he could volunteer. She told him he could start immediately.

Volunteering also helped Curtis find housing. One morning five years ago, a woman approached Curtis to ask if he needed an apartment. When he told her that he did, she helped him find a place to stay. Curtis said that it was his consistent presence and positive attitude about helping others that showed the woman he was committed to getting better.

That commitment continues today.

Each morning, Curtis washes pots and pans, as well as any other task. Years of service have given him an eye for seeing work that needs to be done. The words of thanks by guests as they leave remind him that “God is here” and that the Lord has provided him with a special place. He encourages others to do their best and trust that they too will find a place where they can thrive.

“If you let your light shine, he’ll find a place for you.”

Wyatt Massey is a volunteer storyteller for the Gathering. Read more of his work here.

Giver’s Honor Roll

The Gathering Board of Directors thanks the following generous supporters who gave $250 or more between August 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015.

Johnson Controls volunteers

$15,000 - 25,000 Grainger Foundation Nicholas Family Foundation

$5,000 - 14,999 2 Anonymous Donors All Saints’ Cathedral Hunger Book Sale Hunger Relief Fund of Wisconsin Mel and David Johnson Joy Global Luedke-Smith Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Lux Foundation Joseph and Joni McDevitt Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation United Way of Greater Milwaukee - Donor Choice

Special thanks to our friends at Joy Global, Inc. for this billboard advertisement

$2,500 - $4,999 2 Anonymous Donors Christ Church Episcopal – Whitefish Bay Community United Methodist Church - Elm Grove EFSP Phase XXX Allocation Greg and Jackie Johnson Mark and Karen Meunier St. Paul’s Episcopal Church- Milwaukee Seaman-Goes Family Foundation Service Club of Milwaukee Thompson Family Foundation - Waukesha County Community Foundation

$1,000 - $2,499 5 Anonymous Donors Lucy Cooper Emanuel United Church of Christ - Hales Corners Rachel Finger Gathering Memorial Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Daniel and Kathy Glaser Green Bay Packers Foundation Thomas and Mary Hawley Dan and Nancy Kiernan Robert Martin John and Beryl Mulhern Rite Hite Foundation William and Susan Rose St. Mark’s Episcopal Church - Milwaukee Richard Schreiner Margaret Schumacher-Kuzon John and Jane Stoneman Jason and Laura Thurow UMB Bank Donald and Kate Wilson Eugene and Carmen Witt Lee and Carol Wolcott

$500-$999 8 Anonymous Donors Robert C. Archer Designated Fund- The Greater Milwaukee Foundation David and Mary Claire Ashpole James Bauman and Candace Moore Evert and Cindy Berndt Richard and Karen Binder Patricia Bowne Joe and Marlene Bruno Carrie Taylor and Nettie Taylor Robinson Memorial Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation James Cary and Cheri Neal-Cary Paul and Mary Counsell James and Diane Cowles Richard and Mary DeLuca Greendale Community Church David P. and Marjorie L. Hamacher Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Michael Istwan and Amy Korpi Jerome and Lynn Johnson Ted and Mary Kellner Eugene and Gwendolyn Lavin Jim and Maureen Leurquin George and Sharon Loxton Jesse Maier Andrew Martin and Janet Trostel Martin Jane Matheus Thomas Mooney and Elene Strates Rex and Gladys Merriman Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation Shane Morrison Harry and Ellie Moseley William and Susan Mueller Kevin and Cheryl O’Connor W. Stuart Parsons Jack and Martha Prince Family Fund - The Greater Milwaukee Foundation St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church - River Hills Seeds of Health Elementary School Gary and Maureen Shebesta Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church - Hubertus Shorewest Realtors James and Christine Speaker The Other Stratton Foundation Carl and Nancy Trimble Trinity Episcopal Church - Wauwatosa Robert and Ellen Venable Betsy Wagner Bill and Mary Walker Trevor and Margaret Will John and Julie Wolf George Zalewski

$250 - $499 14 Anonymous Donors Robert and Elizabeth Bradley Law Office of John Cabaniss John and Georgia Cain Data Financial, Inc. J. D. Dudek and Ann Kebisek Dudek John Farina Sarah Ford and Randall Klumb Thomas and Roxanne Gebhard Peter and Elizabeth Gottsacker Greg and Hazel Griffin Howard and Christine Gygax Stephen and Deborah Heinze Mark Hohensee Amy Hudson Jeffrey Johnson and Marie Hoven Frederick and Susan Kasten Peter and Mary Klabunde Knights Templar George and Irene Krueger Michael and Sarah Kubly Peter and Kristin Kult Brian and Suzanne Lanser Evan Lenhardt and Virginia Finn-Lenhardt Steve Martinie Phillip Mattix and Sheila Stafford Michael McClone Robert and Colleen Miller Jo Mooney Greg and Beth Myers Charles and Evelyn Payson Clifford Presky Mason and Julie Ross St. James’ Episcopal Church - Milwaukee St. Nicholas Orthodox Church - Cedarburg Richard and Mary Savio Thomas and Meredie Scrivner Bruce and Janine Smith Jerry Smith and Sharon Beste Gertrude Stillman Scott and Holly Stoner Western States Envelope Company James and Elizabeth Wigdale

We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all donor names. If we have missed you or spelled your name incorrectly, please let us know.

Goodbye Dennis and Jim

Jim and Dennis at the Gathering’s Brewer’s Outing in 2007

After 14 and 15 years respectively, Dennis Stokhaug and Jim Ardis are leaving their shared position as Operations Managers for the Gathering. Jim will stay on as Dinner Coordinator, and both have offered to train the new person when hired. It’s difficult wrapping one’s brain around the thought of their impending departures.

In 2000, Jim Ardis began working with the Gathering as our full time Operations Manager, responsible for the purchase, storage and transport of food, and oversight of equipment and facility maintenance and repairs at all Gathering Sites. A year later, Dennis Stokhaug took on that role while Jim concentrated on the Dinner Program. And five years after that, they began sharing the Operations Manager duties.

It’s a tough job: early hours, lots of driving, keeping your cool, schmoozing with donors of food and supplies, making sense out of inventory lists, locating the best deal on an item, responding to a multitude of “bosses”, heavy lifting, and stairs, stairs, stairs!

What could possibly keep each of them committed to this work for so many years?

Jim says:

“I enjoyed over the years being with the people tasked with the duties of distributing goods to the people in our society who have the most pressing needs. Their dedication was, in many instances, more than enough inspiration to return for another day. A question was asked me once, ‘Did I know anyone whose life had been changed by coming to the Gathering?’ The first person I thought of was me. End of story.”

Dennis shared this story:

“I worked for thirty five years for a company downtown. I saw many people who called the street their home. I watched them walk the streets aimlessly, saw them sleeping in alleys, searching for food. If by chance you would walk past them the question was always the same, ‘Hey, buddy could you spare a dime?’ I must admit most times I would continue on my way but there were times I would share. I finally retired and made a lot fewer trips downtown, but I never felt the downtown street left me. [When] I came across the ad for the Gathering [Operations Manager], I knew this was what I needed in my life and for the people that I had passed for so many years. Here it is 14 years later, driving the third van, a total of 350,000 miles, 1200 stops to fill the vans, tons of food. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with the Gathering. I don’t know if I made a difference, but I can tell you the Gathering has made a difference with me.”

We will all miss you, Dennis, for your calm demeanor, your thankfulness, your respect for our guests.

And Jim, even though you will still be around with the Dinner Program, we will miss your diehard belief that organizations and programs and the Gathering can always be better.

St. James Building for Sale

View of the front of St. James Episcopal Church

If you volunteer at the Gathering’s breakfast program or the Saturday lunch located at St. James Episcopal Church, you have probably seen the “for sale sign” out front. A few months ago the St. James congregation made the very difficult decision to find a buyer for the building and secured the services of Ogden and Co. to handle the marketing. The expense of keeping up with the maintenance and repairs of this 1867 historic structure had become overwhelming. The intent of those attending St. James is to stay together as a worshipping community as long as possible and wherever that might lead.

St. James Episcopal is where the Gathering began, formed from the vision of Fr. Michael Stolpman and the Episcopal Diocese. In January of 1982, Fr. Charles Lynch, Rector (pastor) of St. James, together with the Wardens and Vestry (governing body of the church) welcomed the Gathering to the downstairs kitchen, and the rest is history. It continues to be the Gathering’s busiest site, serving 900 plus meals weekly; welcoming 20-40 volunteers six days a week – 1/3 from our guest population; offering collaborative mental health, medical and legal assistance; and housing our Fresh Produce Preservation Project. St. James also hosts the Red Door Clothing Ministry and Sundries from the Avenue, a St. James ministry distributing toiletries and other items to those who are homeless.

The Gathering has formed a committee to look at our options should the building be sold and we are asked to move. At this point in time there have been no offers, and a quick sale is not anticipated.

Welcome Angela and Rosy

One of the realities of working in a meal program is the ever-changing population of guests and volunteers. This often means a lot of difficult goodbyes, but it also means that we are constantly welcoming eager folks into our community. Gathering staff, on the other hand, have been a consistent presence. But that all changed in late summer of 2014 with the resignations of our long time Breakfast Coordinator, George Neureuther, and our Breakfast Cook, Cary Gibson.

We have been blessed to welcome two talented and passionate staff members to the Gathering’s team: Angela Wright and Rosy Ricks. Both began working in September; Rosy as the Gathering’s Breakfast Cook, and Angela as Breakfast Coordinator. The team hit the ground running with new menus, new volunteers, and fresh ideas.

Angela sorts through sign-in sheets, community service paperwork and more after breakfast

Angela

Angela came to the Gathering through her work as Dinner Program Coordinator for the St. Vincent DePaul Society’s south side meal site. Thanks to this experience, she already had a relationship with a number of our guests as well as plenty of experience running a meal program. When asked how she got involved in this line of work, she was inspired by the parable of modern day Good Samaritans, people who stop to help victims of poverty when society may not. 

“The Bible tells a story of a Priest, Levite and a Good Samaritan who all came across a poor injured man in the road. The 1st question the priest and the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man what will happen to me?’ But the Good Samaritan reversed the question ‘If I don't stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’ I got involved for the opportunity to help and serve others. I believe that my purpose in life is to praise, worship and serve God. What better way to serve him than by giving and helping others?”

This answer demonstrates that Angela’s faith is a huge motivator in her chosen path. She acts out her faith daily by greeting everyone with a smile, never-ending patience, and humor. She explained that interacting with all of the people at the breakfast program is another big motivator for her.

“I have the privilege of opening up (the meal site) every morning Monday-Friday, running, ducking and dodging any ghosts that may be lurking in the dark in order to get things prepped for a group of great volunteers willing to help feed those less fortunate. Then I get to be able to talk to and meet people that are in need of a kind gesture, a little motivation, some resources, but most importantly a nice cooked meal. Thank God for the cook! (Rosy the magician can hide almost anything in her dishes), and the security from our gatekeepers, Great Lakes Security, and the assistance from always helpful Bob Heindl and smiling Deacon Ned. I really enjoy seeing God at work blessing others. I enjoy meeting individuals like Ray, Reggie, Craig, Curtis, Stephanie and Noda, just to name a few, that are living testimonies of God’s love for us.”

Angela’s faith-filled purpose and appreciation of others is made clear in the way that she interacts gently and compassionately with guests, volunteers, and even Lydia, the fabled St. James’ basement ghost. Angela has a calming presence and a deep concern for the well-being of everyone in the Gathering community. We are honored to have her as a part of our team.

Rosy

Rosy has a lifetime of experience cooking and exploring unique avenues to bring about a more just food system. Whether it’s growing her own food, working in various soup kitchens, purposefully living in community, or just thinking up innovative ways to bring people around the table. She is never short of ideas, and the Gathering community has benefited.

“Everyone’s a pretty good sport when I dream up an unusual dish or start sneaking healthy things in. I like that we’ve jelled together as a flexible and functional team and that coming to work is actually something I look forward to. I also like chatting with Dennis and Jim [Gathering Operations Coordinators] when they come in and how receptive they are to my strange ingredient requests. I feel challenged in all the right ways and supported by a lot of really amazing people and I can’t say that’s something I’ve experienced too often working in nonprofits.”

We are convinced that Rosy could make a delicious, nutritious meal out of just about anything. So far her dishes have included biscuits with gravy loaded up on vegetables and meat, chicken campanile, chunky potato and meat soup, turkey or vegetarian chili, and many more. Just don’t be surprised when you see a carrot or some greens hiding in your entrée.

Rosy shared her secret to getting all the food on the table and the kitchen in order each morning. 

“Mornings are pretty tough for me, but I really do love what I'm doing, so it makes getting out of bed a little easier. When I come in, there are a few regular volunteers there to do some of the daily tasks, like rolling silverware or pulling down chairs. I start by doing an inventory of the cooler, getting things into the ovens, and determining what kind of help I will need for cooking and prep tasks with Angela. I try to get a read on folks to see who has the types of skills I need for the day. Often, it's been getting meat off of bones, making stock, and prepping veggies and starches for soups and multiple ingredient dishes.”

Curtis also lends a hand every now and again with pulling meats and veggies, and Craig has the most important job of all; making sure the coffee is ready as soon as humanely possible. (Curtis and Craig are long time volunteers from the guest population.) Once we are prepped and ready to serve, I will keep one or two volunteers in the kitchen with me to help with running food to the line, or prepping for the next few day’s meals. Occasionally, I get a really exceptional kitchen volunteer, and that allows me to do more complex dishes, like the turkey and wild rice stew with cherries or Chinese style dishes.”

Is your mouth watering yet?

Angela and Rosy have worked hard the past few months managing the fast-paced, energetic atmosphere of the Gathering’s Breakfast Program. They have done it with grace, style and efficiency. We are so thankful to have them as a part of our team and we look forward to what they will be able to accomplish in 2015.