Feeding the Less Fortunate

On our last day we were able to spend three hours in the morning serving the less fortunate by working in a soup kitchen. Our task was to prepare the oranges. Easy and simple huh? NO!

All 19 of us put on aprons and gloves and were give a dull paring knife and a makeshift cutting board. By that I mean, a cutting board that was really the back side of a plastic storage container lid! We had to peel the oranges leaving as much pith on as possible so the guests could take advantage of the vitamins. After peeling hundreds (yes, hundreds-that is no typo) of oranges we began to chop them into squares. For many of the people who would attend for lunch this would be their only meal of the day.

We worked in rows of tables in a small room that served as an eating hall, cook prep area, and in the afternoon a sewing classroom. We found several small sewing needs on the floor. After all the or

anges were done, we wiped down the tables, shoved them aside and

literally hosed down the floor and then dried it. We reset the tables with chairs and it was ready to serve the first wave of guest. Meanwhile, in another area, the actual kitchen was bustling with other volunteers and paid workers in preparing the rest of the meal. If I recall they had a bean/protein dish, rice, vegetable soup, fruit salad and a bread. People could eat there or bring a small container from home and have it filled up and take it with them. No money is exchanged. Some of us filled trays to be served while others passed out food or served tables. I was a food tray preparer.

One of the facts we learned is that in the poorest sections of Israel, many of the folks were immigrants from Russia and elsewhere when no other country wanted them after the war. These people have limited Hebrew or English, and limited or no skills that could be used for a job. Many are quite old now, but we served many younger people as well. Statistically speaking, the poverty level in Israel is greater than that of Mexico! That is a fact that is very hard to comprehend. Living as close to the border as we do, it is hard to think about areas that suffer even greater poverty.

It was a blessing to have this opportunity and a wonderful way to spend our last day. But as our guide, Ido, would tell us daily, "Folks, you ain't seen nothing yet!" And he was right. We were off to spend our last afternoon milling about in the Jewish and Muslin Quarters of Jerusalem. So hold on, you are in for some amazing photos.