Knox OOTC Volunteer Dinner

Another year has come and gone at the Out of the Cold program at Knox. I'm proud to say this is my 9th year volunteering. I believe I started in the 2005/6 season (the same time Melinda started). Besides the organizers, Vicki and Bill, I think Pat is one of the only guys who's served longer than us.

Returning again this year was Joe. He's been a tremendous help scrubbing the pots and pans for the past three or four years. Young Wha didn't come as often this year. I brought my nephew, Avery, out to fill her role putting the clean dishes away. He did a great job.

Sam came a couple of times. He's almost finished law school. Ken was pretty regular. He normally helps with food prep, but comes by to drop off dinner (which is greatly appreciated).

Paul and Tomoko brought their kids out again too. Jack (aka Chopper) helped Avery put the dishes away and Midori helped me load the dishwasher.

It seems like the faces change a little each year. Next year Young Wha will be gone. She's going to work in the U.S. I believe. We'll miss her.

The volunteer dinner was slightly smaller than in past years. Most of the core group was there. Though I was the only person from the dishwashing crew to show up. Joe had to attend some sort of function with his wife (I can't remember what). Avery was too shy to come because no one else his age went.

... Until next year.

Lunch at Arisu

Melinda, Young Wha, Ken and Joe.

I organized a lunch for our dishwashing crew from the Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church. It runs each year from the beginning of November to the end of April. So we just finished.

We debated whether we should have AYCE Japanese or Korean. Melinda and I are fans of sushi. Especially the all-you-can-eat kind. But Joe doesn't eat raw stuff and Young Wha likes Korean food (probably because she's Korean). So we went with that.

Originally they were thinking about going to a different restaurant. But I had seen a voucher for $40 worth of food for $20 for Arisu on one of those discount coupon sites. So I convinced everyone to go there. I set up a Doodle.com poll and asked people which date would best suit them. Saturday, June 1st won out.

It was about the time I was going to call the restaurant to make reservations when I read the fine print on the voucher - It wasn't valid on Fridays or Saturdays. I asked the others if they wanted to change the date, but we figured it would be too much trouble, so we kept it.

The Saturday we met was a nice day. It was sunny and warm out. I walked down from my condo. It's about 6 kilometres or so. I arrived a bit early - maybe at around 12:20 p.m. Melinda was next followed shortly by Joe who rode his bike over from Bloor and Dufferin.

Young Wha came next followed by Ken (who lives near me). He was a little late because he missed his first bus to the subway (which was actually closed for repair work). He had to take a shuttle bus down Yonge to Bloor.

We waited a bit longer for Sam, but he never showed up. It turns out that he mixed up the date. We had a good lunch anyway. Young Wha educated everyone on what everything on the menu was. I usually get the same thing (bibimbap), but Joe rarely eats Korean, so he needed some help.

It was nice seeing everyone again. The next time we'll probably meet up is in November when the program starts up again.

OOTC - Dishwashing Crew 2013

This is our Out of the Cold dishwashing crew v. 2013. Joe is the only holdout from last year (and the year before that where he was helping in the gym). Young-Wha, Di, Sam and Angela are recent additions to the team.

Joe is Mr. Reliable. He rarely misses a week. He pre-scrubs an endless number of dirty pots and pans. Young-Wha and Di are great at quickly putting away all the clean dishes that I give them fresh (and steaming hot) from the dishwasher. Sam and Angela are reliable back up if either Di or Young-Wha are away.

Without these guys clean up would be impossible. I truly appreciate all their hard work!

Hosu with the OOTC Gang

Last Sunday I rounded up a few of my fellow dishwashing buddies from the Out of the Cold program at Knox church for lunch. We went to Hosu on Queen (and John). They serve Japanese and Korean fare.

In the photo are Di, Young-Wha and Joe. Joe has been helping at Knox for  about 3 years. In his second year I recruited him to help me wash dishes. He's been a great asset.

Di and Young-Wha started helping this year. They're invaluable cogs in our machine. Without them we wouldn't get anything done. They're so efficient in putting away the dishes that Joe and I wash. I'm so thankful for all of them.

There are a couple of other helpers who couldn't make it this time - Sam and Angela. Hopefully they'll make it out the next time we meet up.

Yonni's Birthday

Back row - Sae, Haruka, Kelly, Laura; Front row - Emi, Yonni, Emily

Emily invited us over to her place for dinner to celebrate Yonni's birthday. It was a potluck dinner. As usual I brought apple pie that I bought from Metro. Trust me... I had everyone's best interest in mind. You don't want to eat my cooking.

Contrary to what the above picture shows it wasn't only me and the girls in attendance. As well as me, Mark, Kyle, Steven and Danny represented the boys. Only I never got a shot of them. Steven really wasn't a big fan of having Kyle and I taking many pictures. C'est la vie.

As well as Yonni's birthday we celebrated Danny and Sae getting engaged. He recently proposed. Steven played a sort of newlywed game where Sae and Danny had to answer questions to see how well they knew each other. It was kind of a silly game. Oh well.

We also sung on Emily's roomate's friend's Karaoke machine. Actually, it was mostly me who used it. It kept everyone entertained one way or another.

Dinner with the Knox/OOTC Gang

Last weekend I went to dinner with some of my friends from Knox Presbyterian Church. Last year a few of them volunteered with me at the Out of the Cold program there. This year some of them are busy so they can't make it out.

We met at Aroma (coffee shop) at Bloor and Bathurst then walked over to Korea House on Bloor near Christie subway station. As usual I had bibimbap. It's comprised of vegetables, meat and an egg on top of rice. It's one dish where you can control the amount of spice you put in. They give you a bottle of sauce so you can put on as little or as much as you desire. Since I'm not big on spicy food I normally put on little to none.

After dinner we went across the street to a Korean supermarket where some of my friends bought a few things. Then we walked back to Bloor and Bathurst to go for coffee and dessert. Instead of heading back to Aroma we went to Green Beanery on the southeast corner. It's a nice open concept place with high ceiling.

It was good seeing everyone again under happier circumstances. We had originally planned on meeting earlier, but it was postponed because of the passing of Pattra Sivers who had joined us on occasion at OOTC last winter. She contracted skin cancer last spring and passed away December 19th. Most of us met that time at her memorial service.

OOTC Dishwashing Crew - 2011

This is a photo of the 2011 version of the dishwashing crew at the Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church. From left are Sam, Yonni, Pattra and myself. Missing are Harim and Daphne (who took the picture).

These guys have been great helping out. Sam and Yonni are great with the dishwasher. Pattra, Harim and Daphne put the clean dishes and pots and pans away. While I'm at the double-sink pre-scrubbing all the gunk off the pots and pans before we run them through the washer. We run like a well-oiled machine.

Still, at the height of the rush, things can get pretty intense. Piles and piles of dirty dishes flood in after the youths finish eating. We really have to move quickly otherwise things will pile up in one area or another. Thanks to the extraordinary effort of this great team we always manage to squeak by.

Over the five or so years I've been helping at Knox, I've met a lot of wonderful people. Many of them have moved on, but there are a few stalwart volunteers. Vicki and Bill (the organizers) are two of course. And there's Pat and Holly who prepare the food, and Darlene who runs the sewing clinic. Pat has been around for a long time. He's a real trooper. I'm certainly blessed to have met all these amazing people.

Out of the Cold, 2010-2011

John, Mike, Harim from last year.

The Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church started again this past Tuesday. We provide hot meals to underprivileged young people (under the age of 26) every Tuesday evening from the beginning of November to the end of April. As well as the dinner we have a food bank where they can grab stuff to take home with them to supplement their groceries for the week. There are also some activities they can do like half-court basketball, there's an old video game console and Darlene runs her sewing table were kids can do some crafts or mend their clothes. Bill will start his hair dying clinic at some point too. We even have a three lanes of 5-pin bowling that we open every now and then.

For me, I help with the clean up. Specifically washing all the dirty dishes. Last year I had Michael helping me. Sometimes his now wife, Nicole, would assist as would an older gentleman named John and once in awhile Trevor would show up. Michael and Nicole are gone now. After they got married this past summer one of the ladies here, Helen, mentioned they moved to London, Ontario where I believe Michael is doing his residency.

We'll see who my helper ends up being then. Yesterday Harim helped me out by putting the clean dishes away. This is her second year here. She was a really big help. Very efficient since she already knew where everything goes. Things can be really crazy in the second kitchen where we wash everything. The dirty dishes come in so quickly you barely get a chance to breathe at the busiest point. I have a system worked out though. As long as no one comes in and gets in the way it seems to work pretty well. The dishes from the gym (plates, cups, cutlery) get first priority. The pots and pans and utensils etc. used in the preparation of the food get second priority. They can soak in the sink (if there's enough space) or we'll leave them on the stoves until there is space. There are three trolleys. I commandeer all of them. One stays in the gym for the dirty dishes. One stays in the second kitchen ready to go out to replace that one when it comes in. One is used to transfer the clean dishes to the first kitchen. That's it.

Dishwashing Crew @ OOTC

This is a photo of Michael and I by the dishwasher at the Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church. We volunteer here every Tuesday night from the beginning of November to the end of April. Our program caters to disadvantaged young people under the age of 25. We provide them with a hot meal and food to take home from our food bank. After dinner they can join Darlene's sewing group, shoot hoops with their buddies, play our antiquated video game system or use the 5-pin bowling alley when we choose to open it.

We open shop at 6:30 p.m. The first volunteers come much earlier to prepare the meal. The only regular I know from that time is Pat. He's a really cool guy. There's another fellow who's always there too, but I don't know his name. I'm sort of embarrassed about that because he's been helping out for many years. Other people have come and gone over the five years that I've been here, but those two have always been there.

Since I can't cook I arrive between 6:30 and 7:00. Just in time to meet the rush of dirty dishes. Normally we get 80-120 guests plus 10-20 volunteers. That's a lot of food and a lot of dirty dishes, cutlery and pots and pans. Normally Michael and I will switch between running the dishwasher and scrubbing the pots and pans in the sink beside it. Various people will sort and put away the clean dishes for us. Usually it's Harim, Micheal's fiancée Nicole or John. If Trevor is around washing dishes I'll help put the clean ones away. At the height of the dishwashing frenzy it can be a madhouse in our area. Stay out of the way or you might get bowled over by one of us rushing in with a trolley full of dirty dishes or rushing out with the clean ones.

Our system has evolved over the months. Now the end is all but upon us. We had a good year. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces helping out next winter. I won't be surprised if I don't though. There is a bit of turn around understandably.

Take care my friends. Have a great summer. To view a few more photos click here.

Out of the Cold Program

This photo is of the dishwashing crew from three years ago at the Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church. From left to right are Linda, John, Safrina and Chiharu. I started volunteering here in the fall/winter of 2005.

Our program runs every Tuesday night from the beginning of November to the end of April. We provide dinner to under-privileged young people. They can also do some activities here too. Some of the youths play basketball. We have an old video game system that some of them use too. When we had sleepovers the first year I volunteered they used to show a DVD movie. As well, some of the youths could use the three-lane, five-pin bowling alley in the basement of the church. That was pretty popular. There was no automated pin resetter. It was up to the volunteers to manually reset them after they were knocked down. That was a pretty tough job. Besides dodging the odd bowling ball you had to hop down into the pit where the pins fell, reset the pins and hop back up to safety. Up, down, up, down, up, down... you get the idea.

Things changed the following year when they stopped the sleepovers. Not enough young people were staying over to make it worth opening overnight. We began closing down earlier and kicking everyone out by 9:00 p.m. There wasn't enough time to open the alley any longer. Instead the youths just waited a little while after they finished dinner and then hit the food bank when their number was called. Like I said, they could involve themselves with a few of the aforementioned activities or just chill with their friends. Darlene could also help them sew any clothes that needed mending and/or give them lessons on one of the sewing machines she brought in. Bill would also cut and/or dye peoples' hair every couple of weeks too.

There are a few areas people can volunteer in. Buying the food is a big job. So is food prep/cooking. Pat and his crew do a great job at that. Others volunteer at the food bank. And, then there's what I do... I'm part of the clean up crew. Some volunteers will put the tables and chairs away and wipe all the surfaces clean. I wash dishes and/or put them away mostly. I'll mop the floors in the kitchens too. That's a new job for me. John (in the photo above) used to do it previous year or two, but he's out of town in school this year. I miss his help. He did a lot. Besides, Vicki (the co-organizer), John and I would stay to the very end cleaning up. We had fun while we were there. Instead of wasting leftover pitchers of drinks or coffee we'd try to finish them all off. You won't believe how much we'd end up drinking. Let's just say it wasn't a healthy amount. This year we have a couple newer guys helping with the dishes - Trevor and Michael. I think both of them started last year. They're really great too. Things have been good over the past couple of years. I remember the first year when Fred and I would stay way past midnight doing almost everything after the rest of the volunteers had left. That was tough. Now we leave anywhere from 9:00 - 10:00 p.m.

As for where the rest of the people in the photo are now. I'm not sure where Linda is. Safrina moved to Calgary a year or two ago. Chiharu was a student and returned to Japan after the program finished that year.