Our Wednesday Serving The Tenderloin Community

Today I went to Glide  because it feels good to help people who are hungry and/or under the poverty line. I also like going because it's fun to help people who need help. Today I refilled pitcher of water, coffee and milk, cleaned tables and cleaned trays. It is really fun going and helping people even if I did need to wake up at 5am!

~ Charly

I went to Glide because I want to help lots of people and I wanted to do something really good for the world. I like Glide because it it is really nice to see all the people get food and be happy and it is really fun because you get to have your friends there to. Today I handed out trays and brought trays back to the coffee house. I also helped bring the cups to the back to be washed.

~ Ivy

I like Glide because I was having so much fun making people happy and doing refills of coffee and having call call me nice things like handsome, cute and pretty. Some people said that I should work here more because a little effort like mine can change peoples' hearts. I even like making people feel warm and cozing inside.

~ Jaheim

I do Glide because I like helping people, and it's fun. It will also help me get into a good high school. I like Glide a lot and I hope we can do it again soon!

Today, I refilled the pitchers of milk, water and coffee for the tables I was working at. The only annoying thing was when I was carrying two pitchers of milk someone bumped into me, I almost spilled. I loved seeing the people saying thank you after they had a good meal!

~ Henry

I like to volunteer because I love helping people that need help. It feels really good helping people. I think we should do this more often. I worked at the coffee house and  gave food trays to the people. I refilled beverages, wiped tables, and after Glide closed I helped stack the chairs.

~ Kharisma

PHS Students Serve!

Glide began serving meals in 1969 as a volunteer-run potluck for 50 guests, and now serves on average 2,560 meals a day with the help of 30 kitchen and security staff and thousands of volunteers each year! Need and suffering never take a holiday! Our young people prove time and time again that they are ready to take on the fight to end suffering, even when our nation's leaders fail to respond. Please share in our students' remarkably rich and rewarding morning working with the Glide community!

A Time to Give!

It is 6:30 am and we are pouring out of cars at the corner of Taylor and Ellis in the "TL." We all could have been hugging our pillows on this holiday morning, but we committed to coming to San Francisco's Tenderloin to work, to support, and to respond to the needs of the people living in this unique community. 

If we are lucky, life doesn't just give us what we want... life gives us what we need. This morning I wanted to be safe and comfortable at home in my bed. What I needed and life provided me was to be face to face with humanity, smiling, welcoming, working, thinking of others, and striving to be selfless. I was touched by how humbly we all accepted each of the jobs we were assigned. We showed up, did our best, and acted with grace and compassion. It is moments like these that I fully understand the blessings of my life.

First Time at Glide

This was my first time bussing tables at Glide. It was a truly gratifying experience serving people who need food. There is a rhythm to it waiting tables, wipe down the table, snatch garbage as you walk to fill coffee jugs, or taking a tray to be cleaned. After a while you can move so fast in between crowded tables, automatically calling people ma'am or sir. You can smell so many different and new things, and see dogs and colourful mismatched clothing. I felt so energized, and we got there at 6:45!

I can't wait to go back.

~Isobel Obrecht

Why We Serve!

I am choosing to serve at glide because I know that some people don't have what I have and I want to help those people as much as I can. I have served at glide before, so I sort of generally know what happens, but I might experience something unexpected. I will contribute to our success by listening to the rules and following them as best as I can, and doing what they need me to do, not what I want to do.

~ Daniella

Why I serve!

I know that other people in the world are not as lucky for. I know that some people can't eat everyday. I know that some people don't have a home.
I serve because I feel that because I am more fortunate than those people, that I am responsible to help them. And I want to help them

I expect Glide to be intense but also meaningful to me. I can tell that I will remember tomorrow for ever.

I am going to contribute to the success of the end of the day by doing exactly what I am supposed to do, and give it my all.

~ Ella

I choose to serve because I think it will be exciting and it will feel good to

help people who aren't as lucky as I am.

I expect it to be busy with hungry people eating and serving food.

I am going to contribute at the end of the day by doing what I am told and

working the best that I can

~ Paulina

I choose to server the people at Glide because I know the there are people that don't have a home, don't get that everyday support, they don't get the kind meals and kindness we get everyday. I feel that those people deserve to get the food and nurture as much as we do. And they may not get the love and support in life like we do.

~ Stella

I serve because I know how fortunate I am. I want to help people who are less fortunate. I hope I can make the world a more fair place. I want to help people. Even if it only for a day or a couple hours. I hope I can make someone happier. I expect the people at Glide to be very grateful. I have been there once before and everyone was very thankful and appreciative. I expect o be doing he same thing for hours. But the hours go by really fast.

I am going to listen to directions and cooperate. I am going o try to encourage and support people.

~ Chiara

We serve to help the people that are less fortunate, and the people that can't afford the food.

I expect serving at glide will be a new experience for all of us. I think it will be different, like the people I think will be different. I think it will be fun to serve there, to try something new. 

I choose to serve because I would really like to help the people that are less fortunate. When you really think about it, we very fortunate and have lodes of stuff and food, and these people don't have very much. I want to help end hunger, and help people. I'm going to contribute by serving and trying my best to help people in need.

~ Pilar

I think that serving will make me feel good. I will contribute to the community of the Tenderloin by working my hardest. I serve because I want to help people who are less fortunate then myself. I feel that I am obliged to the human race to help people who need it most.   

~ Joe

PHS Middle School Students Serve Breakfast

At Glide, you feel like a better person. You feel like you helped
somebody who really needs your help. At Glide, it sounded like lots trays clanging
and people yelling. It smelled like food and dirt. I saw people who looked like they
might be homeless, and also people who looked like they just couldn't afford
breakfast. I had a great time at glide and I hope to go again this year.

~ Ella

At Glide, my job was to re-fill milk and coffee containers, wipe off the tables and take the trays away when the people were done eating. My experience at Glide was very fun. In the cafeteria there were lots of people.  Most of the people there were friendly. The smell at glide was not good. I felt good because I knew that I was helping and taking care of people by serving them food. I herd people yelling and having conversations.

~ Liberty

I dabbed tables. A lot. I saw people that were hungry. Some of them would come back over and over and hide the food in their bag for later. I heard people talking loudly. It smelled faintly like fish... well, not so faintly actually. I felt good for helping people who don't have as much as me.

~ Daniella

At Glide I bussed tables, cleaned tables, got or milk or coffee also tried to help people. I saw people eating people talking and people sitting and other people helping. I heard, "Hot Coffee!" and conversing of people. I smelled interesting food. I felt good to be helping and I thought I was doing good!

~ Petal

At Glide, my job was to push trays through the lines and the next person would give it to the people or customers. We were in a big  cafeteria. After a long time, the cafeteria was packed. I noticed that most of the poor people were African American. Lists of the poor people would talk to each other and tell stories to themselves. Lost of the people thanked us for volunteering. It smelled kind of funny, a little fishy but I got used to it after a while. After all, it was a fun experience.

~ NIna

03/01/12 Reflections on our morning of service at Glide

Glide was an amazing experience. I met a Chinese lady who told very good story's.
I liked severing food to people and making a difference.

~ Jonah

Last Thursday we went to Glide It was very fun I served and waited tables I felt good helping people less fortunate then myself one of my favorite moments when I said have a nice day people and they thanked me. It made me feel like the people I was helping really wanted help.

~ Joe

At Glide I put boiled eggs on trays in an assemble line. I did enjoy it because I did it with my friend. Another reason why I enjoyed it was because I felt good after wards. I was giving food to people who don't have any. One special moment was when they were passing down the trays and all the bowls were usually blue and one tray had a purple bowl. Then we made the purple bowl tray perfect!

~ Isallin

I was busing tables. I was taking trays from tables and wiping down the spot where people spilled food or there were crumbs. Me Ella, Eloise and Jillian did that except Jill and Eloise were on one side and me and Ella were on the other.

I had an overall fun experience and I would like to go again. I didn’t really like it when it got really crowded but it was still fine.

I remember when I first got there and I was so exited to help people. I was really scared that I was going to be late. I got there when it was 6:47 and I thought I was going to be last but I wasn’t so it was good.

~ Daniella

Glide was very fun and we all had at a lot of fun, one specific moment was when me and Jonah were talking to a nice lady. My job was working in the Coffee House and it was fun because you get to bring the food to the people. She was nice because she was kind to us and she wouldn't stop talking to us.

~ August

At Glide I worked in the main room with Jillian, Ella and, Daniella. I enjoyed it but not as much as last time when we worked in the coffee house. There was one guy who yelled at me when I asked him if he wanted me to take his tray. I loved going to glide because it makes you feel better about homeless people.

~ Eloise

At Glide I put boiled eggs on trays in an assembly line. I did enjoy it because I did it with my friend. Another reason why I enjoyed it, I felt good after wards. I was giving food to people who don't have any. One special moment was when they were passing down the trays and all the bowls were usually blue and one tray had a purple bowl. Then we made the purple bowl tray perfect!

~ Isabella

I observed PHS students, specifically Jonah and August, despite the early morning hour, work hard, be attentive to tasks at hand, charm and delight the coffeehouse guests, and were respectful to all. They were content.

A while ago, I read somewhere that what drives people to excel is to feel of use. That is exactly what I felt yesterday morning and was witness to seeing PHS students at their best.

It was a great start to the day, and the positivity generated there sustained me throughout the day.

~ Eleanor

Thank you for letting me be a part of the Glide Breakfast service as a parent representative of one of the children in your Committee.

At any giving time, within the 2hrs busing tables this morning, it was: fun (?), interesting (?), messy (?), terrifying (?), and rewarding (?).

Not often does an event, in such a short period of time, help us reflect and add such a broad perspective to our lives and the lives of our kids.

Thanks, joey

I enjoyed the early morning drizzle awaiting the arrival of our team of volunteers. It was a pleasure standing, laughing, and joking with Isallin on the curb in front of Glide. Isallin greets everyday with a generous smile and an open heart. Our students' passion for giving back is an inspiration. It means so much to be able to serve and be some small part of these young peoples' lives.

~ Todd