Water, Toilet Paper, Tents

One of the hardest things in the software development world is figuring out what you're supposed to build. Not "how" or "when" or for "who", but "what". There is an entire discipline built around this called Requirements Engineering. One of the core principles is that you need to talk to the stakeholders and figure out what they need. Be willing to listen to your customers.

With that in mind, we received some interesting feedback for helping the homeless this past weekend. On Friday, when we were handing out flyers for the Turkey in the Park event the next day, we also handed out bottled water and granola bars. One guy told us that the two hardest things to come by on the street were bottled water and toilet paper, and somebody else chimed in and agreed about the TP.

Then my friend Sara sent me the following after the Turkey in the Park this past weekend:

I met a couple at Turkey in the Park who desperately needed a tent. So yesterday Myah and I delivered a tent to them that we had in storage for a long time. While I was very nervous about going to "Tent City" in the mission district, we ended up having a nice afternoon setting up the tent and talking to many of the individuals that live there.

While we were there we noticed quite a number of individuals that do not have tents and wondered if this is something that your organization is or can get involved with. The couple that I met, Boyd and Christina, said that they can help us identify the specific individuals that need the tents and that won't sell them off for drugs.

This couple also said that they are part of a grass roots organization to establish a permanent "Tent City". They are working with state legislators and the media to have some land set aside. This might be something that your organization can help advocate.

P.S. I had a good time at Turkey in the Park and your organization is helping me better understand the homeless problems in Sacramento.

Interesting things to throw into our planning: water, toilet paper, tents.

By the way, I'd like to find out more about the grass roots organization working on a tent city. Does anybody here know anything about that?

TIP Review

Woo-Hoo! That was pretty fun. We had a bunch of people show up to Turkey in the Park 2008 bringing all kinds of cool stuff - big thanks to each and every one of you. This was the biggest year yet - we had three turkeys, and I believe we used them all up (and most of everything else, too). We also gave away almost all of the clothes, blankets, etc. that were so generously donated.

Because this park is so much bigger and more open than where we did this last year, it didn't look like we had a lot of people at first. About an hour into it I scanned the crowd to get a rough headcount, and there were over 100 just at that point - and that's not counting the people who'd already come and gone, and others that came later. Pretty good turnout.

My favorite part was getting to walk around with the Rocket Man on my back chatting with people and handing out Kool-Aid. (I'm enough of a dork that I think the Rocket Man is cool.)

If you were there, please leave a comment letting us know your take on things - what was fun, what we did right, what we did wrong, etc. It's good for us to keep learning as we do this stuff.

Again, thanks to all of you who contributed food, clothes, blankets, and time. You all rock.

Turkey in the Park Sign Up's

at Grant Park @ 21st & C Streets

See people for who they are, not where they live.
Sat. Nov. 15th @ 3PM

Think about what it means to love the poor

(Dont feel like you cant come if you dont have anything to offer or bring. Sometimes we need help more than things. Just think of this as a big wish list)

SIGN UP by commenting below: (Items in red are still available).

Cook/serve hot foods using 1/2 size Steam Table Pans for hot food 11 3/4 x 9 3/8 x 2 9/16 in.
(We'll have chafing dishes on site to keep food hot this year. We're passing out pans in advance for you to prepare/bring your food; just let us know how many pans you'd like to fill!)

Turkey - Ann
Turkey - Jan & Cindy Lindman

Turkey
Ham-Mike and Kellie

Stuffing- Mike and Kellie

Stuffing - John and Sandy Carson

Stuffing -Vanessa Reed
Green Bean Casserole- Jeannine
Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Sauce -Sarah and Mark

Yams - Ted and Dominique Calvert

Corn - - Ted and Dominique Calvert

Corn - John and Sandy Carson

Mashed Potatos - Ann

Mashed Potatos - Leanne

Veggie Tray - Leanne

Veggie Tray - Chuch & Bonnie
Salad - Love & Jess A.
Green Salad - Johnny & Jeannie Zapara

Fresh Fruit Bowl - Leanne
Rolls-Mike and Kellie

2 Dozen Rolls - Michael & Laura
Gravy - Keith & Char
Gravy
Butter-Mike and Kellie
Apple Pie - Cindy

Pumpkin Pie - Johnny & Jeannie Zapara
Muffin Assortment - Cindy & Rob

Chocolate Cream Pie - Michael & Laura

Coffee

Hot Apple Cider - Johnny & Jeannie Zapara
Hot Chocolate - Sara & Myah (150 servings)
Coffee Condiments (sugar, creamer, stir sticks, whipped cream, etc.) - Garrett & Desiree
1 Case of Bottled Water - Cindy & Rob

1 Case of Bottled Water - Ted and Dominique Calvert

1 Case of Bottled Water - Leanne (For Friday's TIP invite night)

Bottled Water - Sara & Myah (48 bottles)

Juice boxes - Garrett and Desiree
Power Aid sport Drinks - Cindy Landingham & office

Paper plates - Tyson (100) - Sara & Myah (50)

Dessert plates - Tyson (200)

Paper napkins - Tyson (100) - Sara & Myah (100)

Plastic forks - Tyson (100) - Sara & Myah (50)

Plastic Knives - Tyson (100) - Sara & Myah (50)

Plastic spoons - Tyson (100) - Sara & Myah (50)

Trash bags - Tyson (3 boxes)

To go boxes for left overs - Ann
Hot cups - Sara & Myah (150)
Ice Chest for Hot Foods - Jeannine

Ice Chest for Cold foods (with ICE) - Sara & Myah (1 chest)

Disposable Table cloths (disposable paper/plastic kind) - Tyson

Famous Meatballs - Rob

Ice chest with ice to keep bottled water cool - Arnold S
Chest to Store Hot Foods - Ryan
Table - Ryan

To Give Away:
Gloves - Tim & Marti
Socks - Tim & Marti
Blankets
Blankets - Shane
Sleeping bags - CNC (Ryan)
ADULT Sized Clothes: , Ann, Ryan, Hank Youloff, ... & Tim & Marti
Baseball caps - Hank Youloff of Promotionally Minded Socks - Chuck & Bonnie
Shirts - Hank Youloff of Promotionally Minded
Jeans
Sweaters
Sweatshirts
Jackets/Coats: John and Sandy Carson & Tim & Marti
Umbrellas
Rain ponchos
Personal Hygiene Bags
Travel sized Kleenex
Cough Drops
Granola Bars - Michael & Laura
Granola Bars - Leanne
Protein Bars
Shoes - Tim & Marti

To Share at the Event:
Folding Tables (long rectangle is ideal) - George B., Ryan, Mike
Horseshoes - Keith
Frisbees
Bubbles
Baseball gear
Soccer balls
Footballs
Decks of Cards
Other fun games to play together

If you see something missing, have a great idea, or special recipe then bring it

QUICK TIPS:

1. Bring your food ready to serve (hot foods covered in foil in aluminum pans with label on top)

2. Please bring appropriate serving utensils for your dish.

3. Thank you for being on time or early.

4. If your dish can serve at least 8-12, you are on track.

Thank you again for your heart to serve and for the time you are putting into this.

FOR MORE INFO.:

Leave a comment, or contact a Socks and Gloves leader: Ann, Tyson, Mike, Kellie, or Ryan.

We need a new park for TIP. Got any ideas?

A couple of weeks ago I went to the location of the park we have announced for this year's Turkey in the Park event to start connecting with the new park location that had been strategically chosen due to its proximity to where we do a lot of Socks and Gloves outreach. To my surprise, the park we had chosen (that I had only ever driven past until that time) has a rule (posted on signs) that if you're not accompanied by a child you're not allowed in the park.

While our TIP event is kid friendly, I'm pretty sure that signs like the ones posted at this park are specifically intended to keep both pedophiles (which we are not) and other unaccompanied adults (which we are) out of the park. This was evidenced by the 4 homeless people sitting on the ground leaning on the gate outside of the park (instead of at the tables in the empty park - seriously, not one person -- adult or child -- was in the park). Instead of rambling about my concern about this use (or lack thereof) of this public space, I'll get to the point: we need to find a new location for our Turkey in the park event. Got any ideas?

We like to have something near transit lines; but, it's even better if it's not too far off from some of our regular S&G outreaches that frequent North B/Ahearn off of 16th and St. Francis at 17th & L Streets for those who travel on foot (since they can't load their carts and tent lives on bus lines). Since we interact with a lot of people staying at or near the shelters in the industrial area of North Sac it'd be good to be in that area. ... Anyway, please carefully consider (if you're a praying person pray) and if some ideas come to mind please comment here (and soon) so that we can update and republish our Fall/Winter Events info.

Thanks in advance for all ideas offered. :)