Swim to Feed the Hungry

It rained! For the first time during this 18th annual fall event, we were soaked!

Pic from last year, the dry season!

Regardless, 26K+ people registered to run, sit, or in this case swim in a 5 or 10K race to raise money for Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. Despite staying out later than expected at a Thanksgiving Eve dinner (training for the big day of course), Jessy and I still managed to drag ourselves out the door and arrive at the event tents by 5:40. 

Photo from the Sac Bee

Sacramentans get crazy on this day~ turkey hats and costumes, as you can see. None of these pictures are mine- still no camera! I can only occasionally borrow someone's cell cam and snap a pic or two. These are from the local newspaper Sacramento Bee.

Photo from the Sac Bee

I spent several hours stationed at the finish line, shoving apples and granola bars at the exhilirated, yet soaked, runners.

Again, last year. Pretty much the same but wet and cold.

 Later in the day, once we finished on post-run clean-up crew, Jessy and I drove to Fairfield to eat a Thanksgiving meal with her family. Going to the movies was also in the plan, but her sister came down with the flu so we red-boxed our evening instead.

Jessy, my fellowVISTA, digging in the pumpkin pie!

  Not too bad! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and Gezuar Diten e Faleminderimeve!

Drive-n-Dash Turkey Drive

First week at Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services was INTENSE!

8000 Thanksgiving meals through this parking lot...

As the new VISTAS, Jessy and I dove right in with the staff, arriving at 5:45 am and braving the chill. A crowd of people was already lining up down block as I biked in, huddled with their blankets and pushcarts. Another volunteer and I rolled a cart of hot chocolate down the street, passing out steaming cups of coco to the adamantly grateful queuers. Although I still get queasy at the thought of so many.. disposable.. cups (ack! in the words of Aunt Susie), I was happily surprised that almost everyone went to great length to get those cups into the garbage can!

New co-workers! Jessy and Robin 

Over 6000 turkeys and 2000 hams were donated to SFBFS earlier on Friday- literally, a turkey "drive" as people were directed to cruise through the lot and hand the food out their windows- which were then bagged and distributed at a rate well over 800 per hour.  

Baggin' the turkeys....

  Incredible organization on the part of SFBFS staff made the day- and endless line- flow smoothly; soul music blasting from the jerry-rigged sound system inspired a beeline of families and individuals to strut along the parking lot toward their free Thanksgiving meal. It was pretty awesome.

Lots and lots of turkeys...

The next two days were spent prepping for the Run to Feed the Hungry on Thanksgiving morning. This year is the 18th annual event, with rain forecasted to fall for the first time. Luckily, we had a team of Americorps NCCC on board, an army of young energetic folk who assisted in opening some 26K+ granola oat bars and and equal amount in cases of water. 

Americorps team having some fun at work

Thank goodness SFBFS offered to feed staff lunch out at the warehouse! Around noon several stacks of pizza were delivered- did you know pizza is officially a vegetable? At least now according to Congress it is...

We unwrapped 30K granola bars for the race!

Uncovering the Awesomeness of Sacramento

When inquiring about Sacramento’s liveable-ness, I was genuinely reassured that this town must be great, because, well, it’s so close to Yosemite, and Tahoe(!), surrounded by wiiiiine country (to be read with a long drawl while waving one’s hand downward), close to the Bay, and hey-- aren’t there a lot of farms nearby? Well that’s all wonderful, especially for those who have a set of wheels and lots of time to kill. However, I will be spending 99% of my time inside the city, so I’m really wondering what Sactown is all about…

Here’s what I’ve discovered thus far.

Firstly, Sacto is completely ignored by the larger population mainly because it is completely overshadowed by its flamboyant neighbor to the west: San Franny. Immediately the first and only place that comes to mind upon the notion of Northern California, San Fran/ Oakland/ “the Bay” boasts a plethora of boutiques, shmancy restaurants, music shops, herb clinics, street cred, art galleries, Berkley, punks, hippies, fashionistas, and that gosh darn rice-a-roni treat! Turns out those things exist here too- (save perhaps the roni), they just aren’t quite so public.

American River Bike & Running Trail

Thirty-three miles of paved biking along the American River, ending at Folsom Lake...

Second Saturdays

There is in fact a thriving art scene amongst a growing collection of downtown galleries, all of which open their doors for a night of public viewing, mixed with lively cafes, shops, and restaurants. I’m told it gets wild in the summer months, but still a bright and festive winter event.

Buddhist Monasteries

Get your meditation on om. Free meetup sessions weekly at Wisdom Kadampa to practice cleansing the mind, and pray for some good old world peace.

Urban Garden Mania

Front yard vegetable gardening is legal now! Raised beds and plots are creeping into sight… along with the occasional community garden plots (like 19^th & P and 3^rd &U).

Food Justice Networks

Not only are there loads of food banks and religious communities distributing food to hungry families, there are also a ton of progressive activists who are fighting for nutrition access, buy-local efforts, farmers’ rights, and environmental protection.

Free Healthy Food

Many places in Sac give out food to hungry persons, so far I am most familiar with Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, and Sac Food Not Bombs. 

Central  Farmers’ Market 

Every Sunday at 8 am, under Highway 80 (8^th and W). This is the Big Kahuna: crowds jostle for California’s freshest produce (especially Asian varieties), flowers, cheeses, pastries, etc. There are actually loads of others throughout the week, listed on this page

  

McKinley Park

Giant! So big there is a lake! I went to a Saturday morning H.I.R.T. Fitness class here, which took place just after the Yoga Club, synchronously with Boot Camp, and followed by the Slackliners.

Coffee shops: Old Soul, Peet’s Coffee, and many more

Old Soul is conveniently in Oak Park, near SFBFS. J I’ve taken to their $2 ceramic pots of Red Blossom teas, definitely on a VISTA stipend! I *zemer* free wifi.

Natural Food Co-op

A total institution here, supplying bulk and natural foods, and offers cooking classes to make delicious, nutritious meals.  They take EBT, thank goodness!

MeetUp Sacramento Groups

Yep, its McKinley Park Fitness. Also on my list is Sacramento Geeks (prom dressup party and trivia quiz pub night), Midtown Events, Pirate Party Sewing, Meditation @ Kadampa Monastery, and Creative Writers Workshop. Click the link for updates!

Sacramento Trees!

Midtown and East Sac neighborhoods are full of old Victorian houses and tree-lined streets, with plenty of bike lanes. Currently, half the streets are covered in a blanket of red, orange, and yellow leaves...

I could go on. In only a week I've learned about some of Sacramento's unspoken awesomeness, and look forward to a whole year of amazing discoveries!

Pre Service Orientation

On a rainy Monday morning I hopped on a bus heading out of Davis to the Sacramento airport, boarding a short flight south to my official Pre-Service VISTA Orientation in Los Angeles. Finally! As an avid buddy pass rider I am always a bit thrown off my game when I actually hold a ticket, lacking the slight anxiety and rush of perhaps getting turned away (sometimes for days at a time...) at the boarding counter. Not this time! I hopped in a jumper plane next to another young woman, who turned out to be my fellow VISTA partner at SFBFS. Just like Peace Corps orientation, we were surrounded by other VISTA passengers, a handful of the hundred + that would converge at the Westin Hotel that week.

Fancy Smancy hotel lobby!

After checking in to the glamorous hotel we had some time to explore, relax, and pick up our binders of orientation materials. I lucked out completely with an awesome roommate, who is serving her VISTA year in Hawaii (yeah connections!) She is working for an environmental organization that promotes eco-education in schools. Good stuff!

Beautiful succulents around LA

I am ashamed to admit that I didn't leave the hotel for 3 solid days. No need- our days were very structured and packed with sessions, meals, break-out groups, and coffee breaks. After more than 2 years of Peace Corps Albania conferences and those infamous coffee breaks I fell right back in stride... glug glug...

This month's Pacific VISTAs

Hundreds of VISTAs sign in each month all across the country, ready to begin their year of service. Each of us is assigned to work with an organization addressing poverty, and we are appropriately supposed to experience living in poverty ourselves. Hence the term 'stipend' rather than 'wage'. Good thing I'm resourceful!

Another year of unpaid work!

So its official: I'm still an underpaid idealist. On the third day we all stood up and swore an oath to serve our country, building capacity one organization at a time.

Swearing to do good, very patriotic

Kevin, Mondy, me, and Jessy

Although we didn't spend hours playing get-to-know-you-games, we did share many meals and tight quarters long enough to make friends. Its really interesting to me how widely everyone's projects vary- my roommate is currently serving a year in Hawaii, with an environmental organization.

Mondy and I celebrate with free fruit cobbler

Mondy and I exchanged our daily towel refreshment for credit at the restaurant downstairs, an effort by the hotel to go green. After all was said and done we cashed in our coupons for a giant order of fresh berry cobbler a la mode. Soooo worth it! Cheers to a good year!

Welcome to Sacto

Its the beginning of November and I've recently relocated to northern California, where I will spend a year as an Americorps VISTA volunteer, working at Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. My job will involve the creation of SFBFS' community/demonstration garden, as well as teaching classes on gardening, cooking, and nutrition. I intend to document the process on this website, so stay tuned for photos!

For now, I am couchsurfing with a friend in the neighboring town of Davis (ie. "Ag Country"), getting to know the university, Cooperative Extension Unit, local resources and organizations, bike trails, thrift shops, food distribution centers, and general life of the area. And the weather (dear god, rain?? WTF is this?).

Some generally awesome things that have amazed me so far include:

Davis Bike Loop


A paved, 12 mile loop around the city; through parks, neighborhoods, tunnels, and generally car-free streets, courtesy Davis Bike Co-op.


Paths are labeled so you can't get lost!

Sunwise Co-op Gardens


Discovered while biking the Loop- neighborhood oasis of garden plots, bee boxes, trees, chickens, and what-have-you.


A whole neighborhood of public backyard gardens!

Food Not Bombs


Food Justice For All


Every Sunday at 1:00 in Central Park. Veggie and vegan-friendly, non-judgmental and open to all .

Saturday Farmers' Market in Central Park


Fresh and Local= Mire


Central Park is the place to be on Saturday mornings

Morning-ish until 1 pm, rain or shine. Glorious fruits and veggies from surrounding farms, accepting EBT tokens. Bonus: Central Park Gardens sells seed starters on the cheap, and the Master Gardeners have a booth/ host free workshops! I learned about some priiiteee rad houseplants (finally graduating beyond just the Pothos...) and couldn't help but buy a few!


Now all I need is a house for this Peace Lily...!


They say the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier every year... apparently with cactus too!


Central Park garden volunteers also teach workshops

Copenhaganized: a City of Bicycles


Roundabouts make bike traffic easy to navigate


There must be thousands on campus at all times! Plenty of bike racks, paths, and free repair stations.


Air? Pressure check? Tools?

Davis Domes


Opened in '72, these cooperative housing units are role models in living sustainably! Surrounded by their own gardens, communal areas, and practically on campus. Super cool.


Another view: Baggins Domes

The Wiki-leaks of Fun!

Wiki-Davis is the ultimate digital guide to all things Davis. Makes it so much easier for new residents like me to connect! Great resources for How to Live Without a Car, How to Eat for Free, and all sorts of Outdoor Activities