A place to capture some of the "memorable" quotes....

This first one was made when our groups (1 and 2) were at the Food Bank warehouse separating food. The food was piled in large bins next to a row of metal tables. Our groups were tasked with removing the food (which was not organized in any way) and placing like items into boxes, labeling and stacking them. As we got into a rhythm, the job went better. One repeated problem was when people would place a food into the wrong pile for boxing. For example, someone might put applesause with vegetables. In John's case, people kept putting different types of beans into his "vegetable" pile. He had to repeatedly remind EVERYONE that "BEANS ARE A PROTEIN" and needed to go into that pile...... After a while, as soon as he started to say it, we ALL chimed in.

On the Road AGAIN!!!

Below are some of the pictures taken as we unloaded at the train station, waited for the train and finally, as we were on our way.

Today is "Father's Day" and Cameron's birthday (below you can see Joe and Cameron enjoying the moment .... Cameron was treated with a special "birthday" cookie)

Julie was kind enough to take some of the kids for a final bathroom run.

These next images are us mission members on the LONG train ride home : )

Editor's Last Day

This is our last full day here in NYC. Here are some of my thoughts and an update for our families and friends about our plans for tomorrow. It's late (a little after 9 p.m.), John is providing us with mood music to relax. The adults are ready to slow down BUT the kids are up tossing balls, running around and having a blast. Owen is in the kitchen cleaning up a little. The kids made a banner earlier with their artistic impressions of this trip. There were not real instructions so each kid was able to simply create something from there imaginations. The creations vary wildly. This morning, we got up at 8 and completely cleaned up our stuff, packed our bags and moved everything into a storage room because the Church was having its Saturday luncheon service for the homeless and needy. We helped to set up 17 tables and over 100 chairs. That preparation was completed by 10 and we were free to go on our own until 12. Jenni, Meg and I went to Central Park for a long walk around that was much longer than planned (because I had trouble reading the park's map). Eventually we found the Central Park carousel and we all had a ride! It was really a blast.... From 12 to approximately 4, the kids all served lunch for the Church. The adults had the chance to go out for "dates". The Church staff was appreciative and it all seemed to go well. Dinner was different for everyone. Some groups went for short trips out and around the city. Pam and some others went back to the 9/11 memorial area and the museum there. Carla took some kids for a walk in Central Park. Unfortunately, for the Park goers, we had a severe thunderstorm and by the time they returned, they were all SOAKED!!!!! There was some debate this evening whether or not the kids would "stay up all night" or "be reasonable and get some sleep". I voted for sleep..... we'll see. I need to upload a couple of pictures before bed but that will be all from me. I hope all of our family and friends will take the time to read the posts from our youth. Our bus will pick us up at 5 tomorrow morning. If all goes well, we will be on our way home by 7 a.m.. Keep us in your prayers!!!!
Below are some of the pictures from our last day. I can't label them now (it's really late for me) but I will post some of the ones given to me tonight. ALL of the pictures taken should be available at a later date.

These pictures are from the luncheon service today during which our kids served the clients who came to the Church today. The kids filled all sorts of positions and seemed to truly enjoy themselves.

Kids Thoughts for the Last Day!!!!

Click on the "Comments" link below this post to see the individual comments from the kids!
Also, below are a few pictures of activities on the last full day. These were taken in the famous store "F. A. O. Schwarz" (named for Frederick August Otto Schwarz).

From the Kids today!

Chase Weitkamp said...
hi richmond..we are having a great time here in new york city. The trip has been very rewarding, but I think it is time for us to grace our presence in Kentucky again. Today was our free day and we got to see various things such as the Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, and the Empire State Building. While this was fun, i'm sure most of us missed the senior citizens and the food kitchens. Trips like these really make a person realize how fourtunate they are and makes them realize to not take what they have for granted because there are many people throughout the world who have it way worse than any of us can imagine! Anyways, see everyone soon! (We're not looking forward to the train ride back!)-Chase Weitkamp
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Clinton Weitkamp said...
New York has been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed the work we have done and the places we have visited. I am very ready to come home, even though we have to spend 20 hours on a train.-Clinton Weitkamp
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Sara Byers said...
I guess it's my turn. I love New York!!! It is so much different from Richmond and although I love my old Kentucky home, New York City is the place to be. There are so many people and places it's unbelieveable. At first it was overwhelming, no lie. As the days went by I became very aware that NYC is a very busy place, but everyone has there own schedule. So you either move over...or get run over. Very simple rule to live by. The work we have done has been so hard, both physically and emotionally. Never have I seen so many people out of a home or without something to eat. It breaks my heart to see all different kinds of people such as children, elderly, homeless, working people etc. without something to eat at the end of the day, or on the sides of streets looking for change. It's a whole different world up here. The work has been very fullfilling on a happier note. The smiles of the people are soo contagious. They are so greatfull that we contributed and it really is worth while. I know i'm writing alot...stay with me, i'm almost done.I loved loved loved Times Square! It was so busy and there was so much stuff! I was in heaven. My plan is to move up here and work at Virgin Records and room with the cashier that I met...she is infact my new best friend. I also loved China Town, so much cheap stuff. Oh its great here in NYC and you better believe I will be coming back. Thank you for your time =] We should be back soon...that is if the train isn't delayed ha.peace and love.-Sara Byers

June 13, 2008

I don't have any pictures yet to share. But here's a quick run down of the day. The Today Show was noted earlier. After that, several of us went as a group to the Staten Island and took the ferry. Most of us sat on the uppermost deck and got some good pictures of the Statue of Liberty and the skyline. Once we arrived at the Island, everyone MUST leave the ferry and reboard for the return trip. We did this. When we arrived back at the original dock, we went as a group to the 9/11 memorial site. This, for me, was not really what I expected. Primarily, you just can't see anything at the actual site. There is an official memorial museum, but it's $10 and we did not want to pay that. So, we got as close as we could and took a couple of pictures and left. We went via subway to Canal Street (Chinatown) and shopped. We split into smaller groups with an agreement to meet back at the Church by 5 p.m.. We will be serving at the Church's Saturday lunch program 1 - 4 pm and the kids will be able to participate. So..... that's all for now.

UPDATE:

here are some pictures from our trip to Canal Street

Here is our "Central Park" visit.

Today Show

This morning started VERY early..... Several of our crew left to go to the Today Show. They made a poster and were in the crowd during a Kenny Chesney (sp?) show. I heard them getting up but fortunately, I went back to sleep. We watched the show on a television the Church provided for us. I didn't see him, but I heard that John was visible and maybe Cameron. This is a poster that Pam and some of the kids made to hold at the show.

St John the Divine

As mentioned earlier, we received a private tour of "St John the Divine". This is a short video of the front of the church.



Oh no!............ I was typing a much longer discription this morning and the computer's internet connection died and I lost it. So, this is a recreation of it (as best I can do) after our outing today... More on that later.
At St. John, we were given a private tour by FCC's former organist - Tim. When we arrived, he spoke to us on the front steps of the cathedral. Here are some general facts:
St. John is named after the believed author of the Book of Revelations.

The structure was begun in 1892. The construction was interupted in 1941 by the beginning of WWII. A bad ecomomy and other financial needs have made it impossible to really get that work going again. The overall design of the facility is in the shape of a cross. Large sections of the building are yet to be started. Even some of the parts that were started before the war have clear evidence that they were simply left undone. For example, in several of the archways, there are completed and beautifully carved figures in the stone. However, as you move your gaze from one side of the front of the building to the other, the figures loose detail and eventually are only large blocks of smooth stone. The cathedral has tried to revive and maintain the art of stone cutting by running a stone cutting studio. There was a bad fire on the site some time aglo and the restoration work is on-going. For example, the pipe organ (which has over 8,000 pipes) is still out for cleaning and restoration. They should be back in place by fall. The entire interior was smoke damaged. Some priceless tapestries were lost. The walls were cleaned by spraying latex on the walls and then peeling it off - taking the soot with it. When you look at the walls now, you really can't see the damage in the areas that are open to the public. We were shown several of the areas inside the church. One main area (the nave/sancturary) area had several large stone columns. A bit of history: the architect wanted the pillars to be cut from one solid piece of stone. This was attempted, BUT the first two attempts cracked at the same point(using up the only "spares" available). So, a compromise was made to cut the columns out of two stones and "piece" them together. If you look closely, you can see the "seam" in the great stones .

During our tour of the grounds we saw two of the three peacocks in residence - one was an albino. They came pretty close and honked at us some. There was also a small garden with a fountain in which the public can come to sit and reflect. All of the plants in the area are ones that are mentioned in the Bible (like jasmine and juniper).f

Swat Moment

Some of the kids got the chance to deliver food again. This time they got to visit another lady and she took them out on to her roof for a look at the city. Here they are looking at everything.

We had to mix up the groups a bit today because of the age requirements for two of our sites. So, that meant that some of us went to the Foodbank Kitchen to work today and some of us stayed back at the Church to bake cornbread muffins. We had already baked a bunch of muffins and a cake to take to the Foodbank Kitchen. In fact, we our clean up crew showed up there today to scrub down the place, we walked in to see the staff giving out "our food" to their clients! The kids (and adults) were energized by this. The cornbread muffins we baked today were completely mixed and poured by the kids (baked by grownups) and taken to the kitchen. On the way there, our food transportation group was stopped at a bus stop waiting to catch a connection bus to the final destination. While there, we got to see some real NY life..... there were screeching tires of plains clothed police officers. They stopped their car in the middle of the street and ran down into the subway. For me, it was tense moment because..... you never know..... fortunately, it went OK and a few minutes later the officers returned to their car and left.

Quotes for the Day

Livin' and a Kickin'
We were doing our evening debrief when Gary's grandson was telling about one of the elderly ladies he met today when delivering meals for the "Carter Burden Center". She was in her 90s and had was spry enough to invite them (Gary and the kids) into her apartment for a chat. He described her as "living and a kickin'!"


Aghhhhh!!!!
Each group went to one (or more) of the sites we have been helping. One of these was the "Foodbank Kitchen" in Harlem. Most of my groups adults went there this morning to assist with the "deep cleaning" that needed to be done in the kitchen. This meant that we had to scrub the walls, scrub the oven (which is a massive industrial sized monster), wipe down tables and generally go over "everything"! John, Pam, Chris, John and I worked first on the walls. The rest of crew started on that monster oven. While working on the oven, Julie said she was using a metal scrub pad to wash up a metal counter near some wiring. The chief came over to check on her and she told him what happened. She told him and he touched the shelf..... nothing happened. So she started cleaning again. Guess what........... she was shocked AGAIN. This time, the shock really buzzed her arms and hands. She decided to stop cleaning that shelf and moved on to another job.

Thoughts from the adults on Thursday...... June 12, 2008

Thoughts from the kids on Thursday...... June 12, 2008

Other thoughts for June 11, 2008

We had a much slower morning. No groups needed to leave before 8 a.m.. After breakfast, the kids made several batches of muffins. These are a part of the "sweets" that will be given to each of our sites. Groups number 1 and 3 traveled together for a 1 pm appointment back at the foodbank. This time, getting there was a lot easier because had a good feel for the route (including train names / letters). When we got there, our wonderful liaison, Hannibal, was a little surprised to see us because we were not on his schedule. No problem.... he switched gears and prepared the work area for us to start getting at it!
We quickly split up duties and began to sort the food. We emptied all of the large bins that were set out for us get the food from.... then......... he got MORE! We almost completely emptied and packed this second wave... but we ran out of time. We had a brief sit down and cool off while Hannibal gave us the numbers for how much food we had packed. Cumulatively, between all of our groups, we have packed enough to come close to setting up a new record for any one group! We will update the exact number later.
The ride back to the Church was mostly uneventful. Mike took a small spill when leaving the building but was OK. Carla said the magic words and he was able to find the strength to get up and get moving : )

Back at the Church, we will have about a half hour to cool off before we leave for our guided tour of "St. John the Divine Church". More information later.

Photos of June 11, 2008 (uncaptioned)

More Photos from June 10th

There are photos of the activities from the 10th. I'll add some captions when I know what they were doing..... otherwise, they might just be images: