Food from D.R.E.A.M.S.: Freely received, freely given
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My friend Tim and I spent several hours sorting through donated food this afternoon, in the parking lot at the HIVE. As we sorted, neighbors came by and bagged up some of the produce to take home to feed their families. I filled up boxes of apples, squash, cucumbers, okra and zucchini to cook for Monday night’s Food Not Bombs dinner for the homeless. Beside us, neighborhood kids played basketball. Behind us, friends and neighbors worked on bikes at the Bike Me! collective.
The donated food came from D.R.E.A.M.S. Treatment Services. They donate an abundance of food to us several times each food. The majority of it is vegetables and fruits, which come from the farmer’s market. Some of the food is cooked and served through Food Not Bombs on Mondays and Thursdays. Some of it is given to friends and neighbors through the HIVE’s Friday food distribution, or at other times during the week. Some of the food has gone to the Servant Center’s food pantry, to be distributed to hungry people; and to the Hospitality House on Arlington House, to be cooked and served to homeless people.
We’re very thankful for the generosity of Brenda and Kenny at D.R.E.A.M.S., and for their willingness to pass on the blessing. Many hungry people are fed each week with the food they donate.
Tim and Audrie (my StreetWatch partner) deserve a mention here, too. There’s a lot of work involved in managing all that food, and it’s done by volunteers. Audrie is responsible for getting the food from D.R.E.A.M.S. to the HIVE, several times each week. Tim is usually the one who unloads and sorts through the boxes, and figures out what goes where. And he disposes of any unusable produce. (That’s a time-consuming, smelly and unpleasant task. I helped him today. Gross. I appreciate Tim even more now.)
As neighbors bagged up squash and apples this afternoon, we invited them to come and cook with us at Food Not Bombs. You’re invited, too. Or you could volunteer to pick up food at D.R.E.A.M.S. Or sort through boxes after they’re delivered to the HIVE. And if you’re hungry, you can take a bag of food home with you. Or eat a hot meal at a Food Not Bombs dinner. It’s freely received, and it’s freely given. 
“Freely you have received, freely give.” — Matthew 10:8
