PHS Street Retreat Friday 01/24/14

I had an wonderful time during the street retreat and serving people at Glide. I used to walk through the Tenderloin scared to death! I was scared that some homeless person would kidnap me. I went on that street retreat and everything changed. I said, "Hi!" to people and they said, "Hi!" back to me. My real burst of reality was when I had to go back to a soup kitchen to feed myself. Needing to go back to the soup kitchen for food gave me inspiration to write and here it is:

  I see homeless people as I walk by...
  I let out a sigh...
  It makes me think...
  Why?
  Why what?
  Why are these people homeless?
  They all once had friends, houses, homes and families!
  I wonder, "How would it feel if it happened to me? All people deserves to be happy!'

~ Meena

We served food to people in need and they were very thankful because they have food in which makes them happy.

We talked to people and they said we were doing a good thing to help the less fortunate.

My group sat with two ladies at the cafeteria who barely even knew each other but they were talking and making jokes like they were friends for years and they seemed really happy.

~ Lane

We served people food who were in need of it. These people were very happy to see the food.

The people we served talked with each other as if they have been friends their whole life even though they just met.

Many of the people there were friendly and were very open to talking. People would help each other by giving them the food that they did not want as much as the other person. Many of them would say thank you as they left.

~ Luke

Our Tenderloin Adventures.
By Liang
Mission Statement Line:

A World in which All People will be happy!

While in the Tenderloin, I found that wherever I looked there was another beside me. You could call it crowded, but I call it it’s own little community. Every time I smiled at someone I got a huge grin back, maybe some of the “grinniest” grins I’ve ever seen. The Tenderloin is a city of it’s own, a different and most definitely diverse city. If I could describe the Tenderloin in one word, I’d probably say, togetherness. You walk around and you can tell immediately that everyone knows each other. From across the street you’ll see someone yell “Alex!” or perhaps “Lisa!” and they’ll be looking right at you. But then you realize they’re calling the person behind you. Afterwards, you feel like you want to be apart of their community, you want to know that almost everyone around you knows what your name is. It makes you feel, significant, even if these people aren’t as wealthy or fortunate as you. Overall, going to the Tenderloin was a fantastic experience, I’m not saying I’d beg to go back, but if you ever get the chance. Take it.

★Please take note that on this adventure I was accompanied by Ben, Hudson, Lane, Katy, Petal, Pilar, Isabell, Ben, Clara, Luke, Meenaa, and Tanya★

~ Liang

We want to create a world that let's everyone have imagination and creativity.

There were kids playing in a park and they were making up a game And they were being very creative.

~ Petal

People need to be capable of speaking to people for help and help for other people.
My understanding is that people in the Tenderloin might connect with this quote because some of them are poor or homeless and need help sometimes. And sometimes they need to ask for help for a friend or family member who can't or don't want to ask for help themselves.

~ Hudson

At PHS we want a world where everyone helps each other to be their best and achieve what each person can achieve. We help each other and other people in San Francisco when other people in our community need this help.

My experience during our field trip to the tenderloin and especially Glide Church was a great example of the PHS community reaching out to others to help others who need us. We helped the community by giving food to people who cannot afford it. Those people could not achieve the task of feeding them selves so we spent our time helping them.

~ Ben

I hesitate to say that my time in the Tenderloin was fun. To describe it thusly, perhaps implies a flippant attitude, or that I have turned a blind eye to the people who call it their home... However, that is far from true. Doing this project has opened my eyes, not only to the suffering and hardship, but to the bright spots of friendship, harmony and hope, found in the Tenderloin.

Life is not easy in the Tenderloin. Sadly, there are many people in this position.

Most people we saw, had at least one other person with them. Community seemed very important to the people of the neighborhood.

There are many beautiful works of art to be found in the Tenderloin. Often putting the neighborhood in a positive light. There are many very talented individuals, living on the streets.

The Tenderloin National Forest is a beautiful garden, a contradiction of most people's preconceived notions of the neighborhood.

My time in this infamous neighborhood taught me to open my eyes to the people around me. To observe both the bad and the good and to not judge either way. I would willingly return to the Tenderloin, volunteer at Glide and talk to the people living there. I believe it is an experience from which all of us could benefit.

~ Katy

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