Best. Day. Ever. And it’s only Wednesday! I started off the day with some exercise with the super fit Natalie and Hannah D., and then got some more exercise at the Fifty Forward center in Bordeaux. An AmeriCorps volunteer came by for weekly Wednesday morning exercise, and with all of our group there we had a big gathering for 15-minute chair exercises and then a brief talk about nutrition. The exercises were actually a pretty good workout for remaining seated, and the lively members made it super fun with witty comments. It seemed that collectively, the Bordeaux members were much more lively and friendly than the ones we had encountered at the other sites. I think this can be attributed to the size of this center; as opposed to the expansive and beautifully upkept Knowles, also called “The Mothership,” this small room was much more conducive to interaction and bonding.
At first I was shocked by the stark contrast between the main center, in what seemed to be a nicer part of town, and this small house-sized center that housed the government food program. Most of the members of the Bordeaux site were on scholarship, and nearly all qualified for the free lunches provided there daily. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it seems that maybe the site that appears to serve the more wealthy members and which houses the main offices is blatantly more ritzy than the overlooked Bordeaux site. The main center in Knowles had a gated parking lot, extensive gathering areas fully furnished with posh chairs and fancy decorations, a sweeping staircase, a large ballroom and many arts rooms, a piano, and even a beautiful chandelier. But it should be noted that on nearly every corner and at every door, there hung a placard recognizing the donors for that space. I understand that sometimes donors have specific wishes for how their money is spent, and it would make sense that the wealthier members who used the main site would donate to improve the site that they would use. But when contrasted with Bordeaux, there is a blatant difference. The Bordeaux site had one main tiled floor room with space for about 10 round portable tables and basic, minimally padded chairs. There was a TV and a Wii (see later paragraph!), and a tiny kitchen and office, but that was about it. Everything there was well taken care of, but the entire space could easily have fit inside even the Knowles Center/Mothership’s lobby two or three times over.
The members and directors at Bordeax were very friendly as well. Jean, the director there, even told us to keep in touch and email her if we ever needed anything. Margaret, a grinning woman who put us all to shame at Wii Bowling, was so full of life. So were Tennessee and Bubba, brothers who had some great stories to tell us. And Martha was fun to talk to as well. It’s just hard to describe how full of life this small center was! I think all of us would gladly go spend time hanging out with them there again in a heartbeat.
In the afternoon, we went back to “the Mothership” and helped sort stuff for the Big Stitch again. We basically sat in the art room and measured fabric for a few hours. It was nice to help Deborah and her staff with this, but after the great morning interacting with people at Bordeaux, it was kind of a buzz kill to do something so monotonous. Again, I’m not complaining about the work we did. It just seemed a little like we were being given busy work just for the sake of giving us something to do. It seemed that Deb had her way of doing things and she was afraid to let us help and possibly do it a different way; I completely understand this, since sometimes I’m very similar! But there’s just the point of saying you’d rather not like our help than to give us something menial that you will probably redo later just to ensure that it’s perfect. That sounds very negative, but I really wasn’t that disheartened by this afternoon. Like I said, the morning interaction with the Bordeaux members was awesome and at least we had a giving spirit when we ‘helped’ in the afternoon.
At night we went downtown again and listened to some more live music and watched the KU game!
-Hannah S.
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