A Bit Differently

About half became leftovers

After picking up the roast ham in Foster City and the carrot salad in Belmont, I headed over to the church where the Home and Hope families were staying. Susan dropped off potatoes, a salad, and frosted cupcakes, while I contributed chicken, another salad, and ice cream bars. We had to cook for 12 people, eight of them children.

I kept the kitchen open for three hours due to the four adults' different work schedules. No matter, I had overnight duty so I wasn't going anywhere.

Luis, a high student who also volunteers at St. Anthony's in San Francisco, arrived after dinner and was the other overnight monitor. He peppered me with questions about what we had to do and when. It was simple: lock the doors at ten, wake-up everyone at six, set out breakfast, put the dishes away, and make sure everyone had departed by 7:15. Luis said that he will write up his week's activities as a school project and intends to help us throughout the year.

He recorded his thoughts and took a short video with his smartphone. I also did some volunteering when I was in high school, but the kids these days do it a bit differently.