10 Lunches Saturday

Photo taken during 10 Lunches Saturday © Abby Thomason

First, I must apologize.  In my naivete, I made the inaccurate assumption that no one actually read this blog.  I'm still getting used to the idea that people pay attention to this thing called 10 Lunches.  I failed to post any information prior to the event we had this past Saturday, not believing that anyone would look here anyway.  I was wrong and got a quick lesson in the diligence it takes to lead this little project.

Second, and most importantly, I want to say thank you to everyone who joined us on Saturday to pass out lunches around the city.  Thanks to Deanna Lea and friends from Liberty who joined us and brought so many lunches (and pairs of socks which were a big hit!) for all of us to distribute.  Thanks to Scott Borden and the crew from Sharon Baptist Church who also brought so many lunches and water and miscellaneous items to distribute.  They took a bulk of the lunches and launched their effort from the midst of the NCAA tournament madness surrounding the Sprint Center.  Thanks to Gary & Kim Bryan (and daughters) for joining us from Louisburg, KS.  The Bryan Family found the 10 Lunches blog/Twitter and showed up knowing no one!  It was a privilege to team up with them as we distributed lunches near 9th and Grand Avenue.  And thanks to my family, who have been so faithful and supportive and have gone out of their comfort zone to join me in this effort.

Overall, it was a wildly successful day.  We passed out over 200 lunches.  My group set up shop next to a soup kitchen at 9th and Grand Avenue.  In 45 minutes, we distributed more than 80 lunches, numerous pairs of socks, and so many bottles of water and Gatorade.  Similar things happened with the other groups in other parts of downtown.  I was struck by the gratitude of the folks receiving the lunches.  It's amazing to come face to face with the immense need that exists in Kansas City.

I will start looking at dates for another 10 Lunches outing.  If you'd like to make a suggestion for a date, let me know.  Comment on the blog or email me (joelrthomason@gmail.com; 10lunches@gmail.com).  My next emphasis will be recruiting.  I would love to see 100 people join us on our next outing!  I don't think that is a stretch.   Thanks again for participating.

- Joel

10 more lunches in Waco

Who ever would have thought that High School students would be willing to get up early on their Saturday morning to serve some people in need in our area.

After talking about this 10 lunches idea, we offered an opportunity for some Baylor students as well as some High Schoolers from the area, to give back.  We met at the K-Life Club Building, rallied the troops, and got started.  The girls that came made muffins and banana nut bread and through Meals on Wheels visited the homes of some elderly adults. The guys started making sandwiches, each person had a part in the prep and we hit the road looking for someone who might need a lunch.

It's amazing how something so simple could be so powerful.  A small, plain brown bag lunch...a few muffins and a smile...the students involved got to see first-hand how easy is to serve someone else.  It doesn't take thousands of dollars, it just takes a heart that is willing.  And perhaps the highlight for me was watching our High Schoolers catch on to the idea of giving back, of doing something to make this world better.

If nothing else, I hope all of us can catch on to the idea of finding new, creative, fun, easy ways to serve. Let us know if you do something in your area or if you've got an idea...we want to share your story.

Thanks.

Mark Your Calendars

A number of people have expressed interest in making another group outing to help feed and clothe the needy in our community.  As result of this response, I'm in the process of planning a second outing, this one for March 21.  If you're in Kansas City and want to be a part of it, just check back here on the blog for more information or email me at 10lunches@gmail.com.  If you're not in Kansas City, we'd love for you to visit and be a part of what is happening here.  Or, you could get out on March 21 and do something in the community in which you live.  We would love to tell your story here on the blog.

That brings me to another point - we would love to tell your story!  If you're doing something in your community to serve others, we want to celebrate that.  Send me your story and we'll post it here on the blog.  Even if it's not your story but a friend's story, let's celebrate that too.  10 Lunches isn't so much about crafting "official" 10 Lunches outings, it's about encouraging others to act and celebrating those actions when they take place.  

I'd love to hear from you.

- Joel

Success

Love Day 09 turned out to be an enjoyable, successful event.  Close to 40 people showed up to pass out lunches in some needy areas in our community.  Some headed under bridges.  Others to bus stops and back alleys.  Still others posted up near soup kitchens and homeless shelters.  At day's end, we were able to pass out 150-200 lunches to people in need around the community.  Some folks even made it into the paper!  (Though that certainly was not our intention nor our motivation).  

You can read the article here - http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1035243.html

Thanks to everyone who was able to be a part of the day.  Stay tuned for more 10 Lunches events.  It's exciting to see that what began as 1 person and 10 lunches has grown to 40 people and more than 150 lunches.  It won't always be passing out lunches.  I can't wait to see what's next.

- Joel

Love Day 09

So it's happening. Love Day '09. The inaugural edition. Here are the details:

When? 10:30am to 1:00pm on Valentine's Day

Where? Meet at The Scout Monument in Penn Valley Park; we will spread out through the community after we rally there

What? We will be passing out sack lunches to members of the community as an act of love on a day that is kind of dedicated to love.

What to Bring? Sack lunches to pass out - there is no minimum or maximum number of lunches to bring, just bring what you can.

What About Lunch For Myself? For those who are interested, we will meet for lunch around 1:15pm at Waldo Pizza (75th and Wornall)

This event is the product of a warm response to this article that ran in the Kansas City Star at the beginning of January- http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/966086.html - people said they'd be interested in doing the same thing. So that's what we're doing, passing out lunches around the community. Why not dedicate an hour and half of your Valentine's Day to serving other people? Bring your friends. Everyone is invited. We'll go out in groups to different parts of the downtown community.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact me (joelrthomason@gmail.com). If you don't live in Kansas City, do something similar in your city! Spread the love.

- Joel

Love Day '09?

Ok, I'm dreaming up next steps.  Here is my idea - Love Day '09.  We could rally people to make 10 lunches of their own (or 4 lunches or 32 lunches or whatever), meet up before lunch time on Valentine's Day, and pass out the lunches to the less fortunate.  Why not show some love on Valentine's Day?  

It wouldn't have to be exclusive to Kansas City.  If people were interested in doing it other places, that would be cool too.  

Let me know if you are interested - joelrthomason@gmail.com or 10lunches@gmail.com or just post a comment to this blog post.

- Joel

Taking Shape

The 10 Lunches idea is starting to take shape little by little. The idea is this - offer attainable weekly "service challenges." It's kind of like a Deal of the Day website, only it's serving other people instead of buying cheap things. For instance, every week, new challenges would be posted to the site. These challenges would be similar to "make 10 lunches and hand them out to those in need." They could be as simple as "next time you get coffee pay for the person behind you" to as complicated as "raise money, get on a city bus and give away $5 to every person on the bus." You could call these random acts of kindness. The object is to build a culture of love in the community in which people live. The ultimate goal is for these acts to be directed at the less fortunate, those who really need it.

Then people would be able to post their stories about what happened when they took the challenge. They could also submit their ideas for future challenges.

What do you think? I want your input. Be constructively critical, not just encouraging. Post a comment here on the blog so I know what you're thinking.

- Joel

Scholarship Application

I was alerted by a friend, Kelsey Hency, to apply for a Social Innovation Scholarship offered by Ramit Sethi, an entrepreneur who wants to encourage young entrepreneurs to engage in service-oriented projects.  That fits what 10 Lunches is and may become, so today I turned in the application.  It was done on the fly, in the midst of my current job search, so I am not expecting to win.  Still, if 10 Lunches is chosen, Sethi would donate $2500 to the development of 10 Lunches and also add his brain power to this budding idea.  

Read more about the scholarship here.

Joel

Lunch Contents

Some people have asked, "What were in the lunches that you made?"  So here is a list of the contents:

* Turkey sandwich

* Granola bar

* Apple

* Pair of gloves

It's nothing groundbreaking, but for someone who has doesn't know where their next meal is coming from, it could be a feast.  Here was my shopping list at the grocery store:

* 2 lbs. of turkey

* 1 loaf of wheat bread (contains 20 slices, perfect for 10 sandwiches)

* 1 box of granola bars, 10 ct.

* 10 golden delicious apples

* 2 packages of 6 "jersey gloves" (the simple knit gloves)

The total cost was $30 (that doesn't include the brown paper sacks and plastic sandwich bags I already had).  There are so many commercial slogans that could apply here....so easy a caveman could do it....10 lunches, $30.  Creatively serving 10 people, priceless.

It's simple.  It's fun.  You should do it.  Or you should think of your own unique way to serve the less fortunate and do that!

- Joel

Post Secrets

Scared © Post Secret

Post Secret is "a community art project where people mail in their secrets on one side of a postcard."  Check out this week's Post Secret edition (or just look at the image above).  If you look at the 3rd postcard down you'll notice a secret very applicable to 10 Lunches.  Be sure to check this out before Sunday (January 18th) when the next wave of postcards is posted and the current wave is deleted.  

Thanks to Nicole Whittington for giving me the heads up.

- Joel