little sidenote to Woj: whee! I just saw an ad for a co-op and I am going to go check it out! :)
I saw a blurb in the paper, about a ministry in need of coats, blankets, and sleeping bags. I called to donate, got talking to the guy. He was recently married, a black guy, minister of what I'll call the "New Love Ministry". He puts on a good meal, with donations from the local supermarket, once a month for the mission house downtown. Does this once a month and wanted me to volunteer to help put on the meal. I walk by the mission every day and have borrowed a page from Joanna, keeping my pockets full, though no one ever really asks.
He was so excited to get a response and very happy that I might work with his wife, who is going to work with the women's and children's mission a couple of blocks away. It almost sounded as if he was eager for her to meet someone and have friends, as part of their charity work. And you know, it's funny, but this guy, what he seemed to want most was a community. If he does any actual proselytizing of these poor homeless men, women, and children, I don't know. All I know is, this guy was eyes-a-blazin' with a mission: to help people. And it seemed not to matter to him at all whether the folks he helps or gathers round to help others are gonna sit next to the right hand of god.
Does anyone know what I mean?
He was not all calm and serene, like some of these folks are. He was not all reserved and bloodless about his ministry's activities. "Oh, ma'am, here's a brochure about our work." All very nice, nice, nice. Gray suits and smiles and soft skin and serenity. Like death.
Oh no! This was positively jubilant, eyes-a-fire, when he spoke about his work, his aspirations, his ideas. We're gonna build shelving to stock up on canned goods, he said. We're gonna get a small warehouse going, won't that be good? And we could use all kinds of things now, just to put on these meals. We want to fee them good, nutritious meals. Protein. Vegetables. Fruit. Hearty pies and puddings. Real potatoes, not boxed. We can use canned goods, rice, beans. You can come down and see: we give the coats to the men, they actually wear them. (could you use old heavy socks, that I've finally gotten R to toss?) Oh yes! That would be just what they need, too. Fresh, clean socks. Good ones, not cheap ones.
I guess all that would be dubbed as religious work, but I can hardly see how it's not social justice work too. It's not exactly my ideal, but it's there and the guy was so damn enthusiastic and I did not in the least feel like I was being proselytized, so here I am. Adding to the numbers of religious volunteers! :)
BTW, we had to go to a United Way meeting at work, which is another way I've seen tons of money raised and sometimes controversially because people don't always like being forced to sit through these or feel forced to contribute to an outfit that does things they might not support.
Also, while at the gym, I met a woman who has an interesting position with the city, to help support the arts in the area. Whee! I had just walked through the city's artist showcase downtown, as well as this old arcade that is just gorgeous and now houses offices, the office where she works. So, we had coffee yesterday -- both of us new in town -- so I could learn how to get involved in what they're doing: figuring out ways to improve things like the local African American Arts festival, improve the climate for artists, arts education and outreach, accessible art shows, etc. They already have an impressive community involved in such efforts. This city, which most people scoff at, actually has a large artist community and is known state-wide for that attribute.
Anyway, I'm wondering: if I volunteer form something like that, I'd consider it social justice to see to it that the arts are promoted in some fashion. Creating a place where artists can make money at what they do seems worthwhile to me, as does creating a place where people can earn a decent wage at anything they do. The people who donate to the contemporary art center in a city nearby, while certainly doing it for the profile, networking, and elitist values, also support an array of events and outreach that, to me, contributes to social justice in the sense that children see plays, orchestras, operas and so forth for free.
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