Operation Backpack

Hello All,

The Operation Backpack Party was last night down by the River in Calgary, hosted by Streetlight, in turn hosted by Maria. There were 600 backpacks purchased, and filled with a fairly specific list, donated, and given out to the homeless last night. There were firefighters passing out blankets, Crave cupcakes, Starbucks hot chocolate and coffee, homemade chili, packages of socks, toiletries, and clothes were available as well.

Enjoy the pics, I'll try commentary on each one. Below is Streetlights blog, its good readin' !

http://streetlightcalgary.blogspot.com/

We gathered on three nights (Tues, Wed and Thur) to sort through the donated backpacks. I was only there on Wed and Thurs, but in sorting through them, we ensured each pack contained items from the list. 'Encouraging note' was one of the requirements, and while people really do mean well, some of the notes were simply inapproriate in that they were preachy and "HERES HOW YOU CAN TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND ...." kind of stuff. The kind of stuff that would only insult or piss off some poor, cold kid huddled under a bridge. So we'd read them out to get a group consensus on whether or not they should stay in or be left out.

Alyssa piled on top of the unsorted backpacks to show the amount of work ahead of us, and the amazing generosity of Calgary. The city really pulls through in this kind of thing. Like, the Mustard Seed Shine a thon and I heard on another radio station that they raised $109,000 in a day for the needy.

Strategizing with Maria for the next nights mayhem. She had a handy little map, complete with firefighters drawn in red ... very cute.

Sorting .... Ryan (in black tee) who I called Kyle (same kind of name!) a couple of times and was curious as to why he wouldn't answer me .... what a geek I am. Mark, Maria's assistant from England, Dan (in Wranglers), one of the Streetlight Drivers (I'm pretty sure that's his role besides making us crack up with his gruff, no fluff approach and crazy stories) Maria is tucked in there too.

More sorting ... Alyssa in blue, Sean in Spider tee (he and I passed out cupcakes last night), Brian, and Bree (another Bree, not MY Bree ;-)

Cute little note found in a pack. We kept this one. (Click on pic to enlarge)

Kingsley (Maria's Fiance) modelling a hat found in a pack. I should've gotten a side view because his nice, expensive, regular ball cap was on underneath, backwards.

View from the frontWhew, all these are sorted !!!! We were there from 7pm - 1:00am.

View from the side. What an amazing sight. We were all so tired, and sweaty, in giddy moods and FULL - Boston Pizza delivered ! We had spicy perogy pizza. Delish. You should try it sometime.

AFTER! Go back to the picture of Alyssa on top of the packs and the pile she was laying on was to the left of the Foozball table.

A few stragglers left - cleaning up the little stuff - discussing non sleeping babies, (Spider shirt guy, Sean), Maria's do not disturb eye mask (on her head), RyanKyle's new project he's starting which is a mobile cart to bring around on cold nights with food and hot chocolate and blankets etc. Such a great kid!!

2 hours after leaving my house to go get Crave Cupcakes, battling traffic, bad weather I arrived at the site at 7 to see this lineup.

Lots of new backpacks, Starbucks treats and "Thank you, God Bless You's".

This is "Spud" and someone bought and filled a pack especially for her and added the Spudnik treat for her. She was pretty excited.

Firefighter Lorne and (I forget his name, I asked him and of course I forget! Me and my memory need to have a heart to heart talk!!) Lorne helped me pass socks out. SUCH a sweetie.
The sights that make me so thankful for my health, my family, my friends and prompts me to pray for these individuals who need someone to love them.

You can see where the stations are set up.

Lauren Holly's look a-like. This husband and wife team Stephanie and Brian (he was sorting in earlier pictures) They are moving to South Africa in July as missionaries when she finishes photography at school in June. She started with Streetlight last November when she did a documentary project for school and fell in love with the concept and the people and has been coming along ever since. She's awesome. We had a fun little chat.

Sarah (Marias bridesmaid) and one of the 'kids' little girl Harmony. Isn't this baby perfect?? She was 3 months old yesterday and such a precious little bundle. Sarah is equally precious. Such a big heart ! She's moving in with us for a couple of weeks today!

Little Damion - OMGoodness he's cute and fun and spunky and cheeky. We had fun - chasing each other and all the stuff you do with hyper little kids. (He is Harmony's big brother)

FLASHBACK !!! McDonald's orange syrup - I thought I was at Sydney conference !! haha

Tyler, back from Sudan for the month of December - he's working with Samaritans Purse as an Aid Worker in Sudan, re-building churches that have been bombed by non-christian countries. SO my dream !! He's REALLY cold. We all were, but especially him who wears flipflops and 'beaters' all day everyday, where its sometimes 40 degrees. We all really like him, he's "gold" :-)

I swear, all the good ones are 27 or under - and it truly sucks. Too bad we can't remain the age we feel! Did you know that women over 35 have a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than getting married ?? Have I mentioned this before. I'm not worried about it .... really ..... I'm not .... ;-)

So Operation Backpack is over for the year, there were some left over, so Calgary Life Church is going to do something with them on Christmas Eve. I don't know the details yet, but I'm sure it'll be spectacular.

Thats it for today folks, I have to go clean the house, and get ready for the Christmas play at my church tonight - I'm a greeter !!!!! All I need is a blue vest! Julie and I are taking tickets and showing people which doors to go in. Better that than in the kitchen preparing food. Both Julie (or Julz McKoolz as she is sometimes addressed as by me) and I are not of the domestic sector and have been placed in a social role.

Feel free to pray for the people who had to utilize Streetlight last night. As I sit in my beautiful little house, having had a sound sleep in my bed with too many comforters, so warm in my $100 yoga pants, my $100 hoodie, I'm going to put my $160 high heel boots on, my fancy little purple winter coat with the funky matching scarf, my purple leather gloves with fur adorning the cuff, get in my little car thats plugged in (even my vehicle is protected from the cold) and go to my $18 million dollar church and take tickets from people dressed to the nines with updos and fresh makeup and overpriced perfumes and expensive jeans and show them to their cushioned, comfortable seat to watch a Christmas play. And under the Centre Street bridge, someone is opening up their backpack, peering in to see survival items, a couple of chocolate treats, and thats all they own. The lucky ones will somehow find a tarp and a few candles to keep them warm while the temperatures dip to -27 tonight.

I hope I'm not preaching. I sound pompous, but I'm truly not - my heart is just so broken for these guys. I have nothing against expensive things (in fact ..... lets face it - we all love nice stuff) but its easy to get caught up in our own lives and bemoan the BMW we don't have or the True Religion jeans we can't afford (me!!) and maybe we can just take a minute to remember those who truly don't have anything.

On a lighter note - my biceps are HUGE (and sore )today. (Sarah, Maria, Mark, Dan, and two others loaded 600 backpacks from the office to the Semi on Friday!) - Total body workout for 3 hours! Its great!

Guilt! Be Gone! I've skipped the gym the last two weeks ....

Okay, I'm really going now !

Peace Out ,' yo

LMD