Wednesday, May 20, 2009

"writing takes the boring out of Sundays"


Friday was the First Annual Career Day for the Elementary and Bridge Programs at Martha's Table. We had guests from all different types of careers from a lawyer, a banker, a writer to firefighters. I met with a 3 children from the Elementary and Bridge Program to discuss their favorite part of career day. Pictured is Alexander, Bryan and Liliana, here Liliana is describing her story Ghost Haunting.

They all expressed that they love to write, so I asked them a simple question...
Why do you write?

"I write to encourage myself to be the best I can be and to express my feelings. I also write to inspire people to do good things. I write when I am lonely and have nothing to do. Also the reason I write is to make people laugh".

- Alexander Perkins, age 9, 3rd grade. Author of the story, The Enormous Monster.

"The reason I write is to express my feelings. Many of my stories are based on true stories. My stories are a memory of my great-grandmother, elderly people talk about their experiences. I tell stories in honor of them. The ghost stories are very fast to write, and the story forms in my head as if it was waiting for me. In my way I think that writing takes the boring out of Sundays. Novels are my way of taking time to create many characters that are my inventions."

- Liliana Campos, age 10, 4th grade. Author of the story, Ghost Haunting.


The children were also very excited about seeing the firetruck and meeting firefighters.

Thanks to all the professionals that took time out of their busy schedule to show the children their potential.

Monday, May 18, 2009

This is for all the Mother's out there!

Martha's Table honored our Daycare and After-School program mothers this past Friday. The celebration included skits, songs and poems.
Here is a song that Classroom A (pre-school) performed for the mothers.


Liliana Campos in our bridge program recited this poem to all the mothers during our luncheon.

Someone
By: Elizabeth Jones
Someone meets me every day when I com in from school or play
Someone smiles and hugs me tight
Someone prays with me at night
Someone has a great big jar where all the nicest cookies are
Someone hears when call
Someone helps me when I fall
Someone always has a kiss -
Now who could be as nice as this?

Who could it be? I am sure you know
It is my mother who loves me so.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Here's to New Friends of Martha's Table, Cheers!


Last night, new friends of Martha's Table let loose and participated in a silent volunteer mock auction (m-auction) while supporting a great cause. Ulah Bristro's great drink prices kept everyone happy as they perused the various volunteer opportunities Martha's Table had to offer. Guests signed up to volunteer on McKenna's Wagon, host a party with a purpose, work with Martha's Table staff to create a strategic communications plan, and much more! We were ecstatic with the enthusiastic response, and are looking forward to building these relationships.

We were lucky enough to have Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) speak to issues of Hunger and Homelessness and the ways in which this administration and Martha's Table are trying to alleviate hunger. Congressman McGovern is Co-Chair of the Congressional Hunger Caucus and a longstanding leader in the fight to end hunger. Last May, Congressman McGovern organized a “Food Stamp Challenge” where he and other Members of Congress lived for one week on a food stamp budget, or about $3/day.

Martha's Table is very grateful to all those who supported us and celebration of volunteerism last night.

Cheers!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Healthy Schools Campaign

Today Martha's Table was full with a fury of activity. Students from a high school in Chicago won a cooking competition, to create the healthiest and most liked dish for over 40,000 student lunches around the country. These lunch will be served in cities like DC, New York and Chicago. The students created and prepared the meal, with the help from White House Chef, Sam Kass. The "Healthy Schools Campaign" was presented to the press, government and school officials in DC today at Martha's Table. Martha's Table was gracious enough to turn the Elementary program classrooms in to a press and dining room. Martha's Table's cooks, who cook meals for vulnerable populations 365 days a year, also helped prepared the meal today for all of the attendees. Thank you to Martha's Table lending their space and staff to help educate schools and children about the importance of healthy food. This is a video of Sam Kass and some our cooks, Ms. Twanda and Ms. Louise discussing the work that they do and the importance of helping those less fortunate with basic necessities, such as food. (p.s. - it is really quiet, sorry)

Friday, May 1, 2009

Planting Seeds!


The pre-school and toddler classrooms have been learning about planting and growing seeds. They even created craft representations of what their bean sprouts plants would look like after they grow. Please check out the slide show above.