Cesar Chavez Month of Service!

We are halfway through March, the Cesar Chavez Month of Service! This is the third week in a row that TFC (Traveling Food Circus) has been joined by groups of high school students!

Last week we received and distributed over 100 bouquets of flowers! This week we had enough produce for each family to get three bags of healthy food!

A very big THANK YOU to all of our student-volunteers so far this month!

MLK Day with CareTeam

As we and the nation honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the CareTeam encouraged an attitude of service through engaging volunteers in two events in Chicago and one in Pittsburg this Monday.

This week we were able to bring something special to our food pantry, TFC, with several raffle items. Each patron was able to take gift item in addition to their wealth of healthful food. Bulk sizes of everything from olive oil to rice were welcome treats. Organic kids blankets and toys were a big hit for kids and their moms loved the donated personal items!

Additionally, across town helpful volunteer hands were crafting over 400 Peace Doves as part of the DuSable Museum's Martin Luther King Day Celebration.

Children and families were invited to learn about King's legacy at the DuSable Museum and enjoy a craft with MGRF. Children colored and decorated paper dove with thoughts and quotes to have a keepsake from the day for their home.

A huge THANK YOU to our loyal and selfless volunteers! THANK YOU also to our wonderful participants and uplifting patrons.

We had a great day in Pittsburgh as well! We partnered with three other organizations to provide an all day event for the community; Union Project, Open Door, and PGH Task. The afternoon activities were designed for youth and the evening activities focused on families. Our role was to provide a community art making activity that would honor Dr. King and highlight his dream of the "Beloved Community".

We engaged 30 kids and youth ranging in age from 3 - 18. After discussing Dr. King, we came up with a series of images to depict the Beloved Community. These images were combined and worked into a mosaic design. The mosaic was spilt into 6 sections. When assembled, the entire piece was about 6' by 10' . . . pretty large!

Seniors, youth and other community members at the event help to add tiles into the mosaic as they watched youth performances, listened to Dr. King speeches, and jammed to the DJ. In all, about 400 people attended the event and most put at least one piece of the mosaic in place. It was amazing to see 3 year olds working with seniors and adults positively interacting with youth.

New Year for Service!

Today is our first TFC of 2010!

Today we serve MORE families than ever before. A year ago today we served 20-30 families and today we serve 40-60 families each week. We distributed over 4,000 bags of food in 2009. It has been a hard year for many our families, but a year of great collaboration and committment to strengthen one another through hard times that has led to much MORE...

We've had MORE support from individuals, businesses and donors making it possible to ensure all are served.

MORE volunteers - including regular students, retireees and professionals who have found a way to carve out some time (and even convinced their bosses to let them off work!) to serve those in need every week. THANK YOU!

MORE businesses - including Dave & Busters supporting our holiday services with supplemental food, turkeys and bulk dry goods. Starbucks supporting us each week with coffee. Nike providing us with athletic bags for Christmas gifts. THANK YOU!

MORE food - both Whole Foods and Trader Joes provide us with more fresh food than ever before. THANK YOU!

MORE caring - of CareTeam volunteers and their friends and families contributing books and toys as Christmas gifts for our families. THANK YOU!

MORE support - in late December we were made aware we received the Hendrickson grant to support our poverty services. This grant will support TFC, Art@DignityDiner and (g)love ensuring they are able to continue and expand their services. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Successful ART @ Dignity Diner Opening!

The art show hosted by Dignity Diner and MGRF's CareTeam was a success! Friday November 6th, Dignity Diner and the CareTeam opened the doors of the Holy Covenant UMC to the neighborhood and other supportors to show off the wonderful work our artists do each week. Annually, the CareTeam organizes an art show to showcase Dignity Diner patrons and their artwork.

Many of the artists were able to interact with members of the community and talk about their art. Additionally, most sold some of their pieces! For a chance to get your own originial art from Dignity Diner, please see our Etsy.com page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/dignitydinerart.

Through the generous support of Northside Prep, we furnished 5 doors with artwork. Following the theme of 'home' artwork was also displaying on coat racks, chairs and coffee tables. We invited our guests to see what a typical Diner table looks like, to join us in creating a community art piece and to read short biographies of the artists.

Work that was not purchased Friday evening is available on the ART @ Dignity Diner Etsy page at http://www.etsy.com/shop/dignitydinerart. Your support of both artists and the Diner is greatly appreciated. For more information about ART @ Dignity Diner and other CareTeam events, please visit http://www.mgrf.org/careteam.

CareTeam & CPS

In addition to our Summer of Service Program we are so thankful for the opportunities to blend our volunteer events with Service Learning Curriculum happening at Chicago Public High Schools throughout the school year.

In our events dealing with Hunger & Homelessness we've had great new connections with young Service Leaders in our programs and a lot of new thank-yous!

Thank YOU to,

• Northside College Prep for hosting a Day of Service and including both our (g)love program and Dignity Diner programs in your day. Students were able to support the programs at their school site.
• Students & Leaders of the Mather High School Debate Team for joining us each week at Dignity Diner Art.
• DuSable Campus Community School for bringing (g)love to their afterschool fashion design program.

We are thankful for the opportunities to invite your student's voices into our programs and provide them with real-life experiences that round-out their classroom study.

Preparing for ART @ Dignity Diner

Together with Dignity Diner, our patrons and other support, we are in the process of planning and preparing for the gallery opening featuring ART @Dignity Diner.

Every Tuesday evening, patrons are invited to be our guests at a sit-down vegetarian dinner. Following the meal, Dignity Diner patrons and volunteers connect through a variety of art activities. Annually, the CareTeam organizes an art show to showcase Dignity Diner patrons and their artwork.

The images within this post are a small sampling of the work featured in our upcoming show. At right is an image from a recent photography project. Also included is an image of a recent painting. A copy of a poem written by a third patron is found below.

As always, CareTeam events are free to attend! There will be light refreshments and the evening will include a silent auction of artists' work. The Diner also greatly appreciated donations of powered drink mix, paper products and bottled salad dressing.

Join us Friday November 6th from 6-9pm in the Community Space of Holy Covenant United Methodist Church at 925 W Diversey. Easily accesible from Diversey Brown Line, #8 Halsted, #22 Clark, #36 Broadway.

"our love is but a fortress"

our love is but a fortess

against indifference and

the climate of change

our love is a border against

invasion by zealots

our love is a defense

against those who wish to

deny the power of love

our love is the ultimate

weapon

our love is the solution to

war

ultimately our love is

greater than war

yet in the end love

surrenders to war

to the end hate is a

stronger emotion than

love

because love takes

more energy than hate.

Dignity Diner Art Opening - November 6th

Every Tuesday evening at 6pm, Chicago’s homeless and hungry are invited to be our guests for a sit-down vegetarian dinner at Holy Covenant UMC’s Dignity Diner. Following the meal at 7pm, Dignity Diner patrons and volunteers connect weekly with a variety of art activities.

Join us Friday, November 6th for our 3rd Art Opening entitled “At 7 O’Clock We ART.” View the work of our Dignity Diner artists as they reveal their unique perspectives on identity and Chicago life.

dignity diner art opening
friday, november 6th
6-9pm at 925 w. diversey

FREE to attend! Light refreshments will be served.
Donations of paper products, bottled salad dressing or powdered drink mixes appreciated.
Additional showing Tuesdays 6-7 through November

Presented by the MGR Foundation and Dignity Diner
questions? contact cassie@mgrf.org or call 773.313.0075