Baked Goods Make the World Go ‘Round: #4 and #5

Let’s get… serious.

No caption needed.

#4 is the biggest act I’ve completed thus far. Last week, I volunteered at the Downtown Women’s Center, which is a homeless shelter for women here in Los Angeles. I was excited. And then I was scared. And then I was excited again.

Questions?

It can be difficult to walk into a situation that’s completely unfamiliar with people you’ve never met. I accidentally left much too early and found myself in a bad part of town 45 minutes before I was expected. Seeing a tent city of homeless people on the street where the shelter was drained my excitement instantly and made me really nervous. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’m a safety-conscious woman (as many of us are) and my first instinct when facing anything that resembles a dangerous situation is GET OUT!

But of course, I didn’t get out. I found a place to park where I felt more comfortable, and waited it out until I knew someone would be at the shelter to let me in.

Once inside, I found myself in a large room with a fully equipped industrial kitchen. There were a few women here at this point (only women are allowed to volunteer at this particular shelter, as it’s a safe space). The team leader was an amazing woman named Linnea who had put together a menu and emailed shopping assignments out to volunteers a few nights before (I signed up too late to receive an assignment, unfortunately, but as every single volunteer showed up, it turned out we almost had too much food anyway!).

I was immediately put to work chopping onions. After that I joined Team Cookie, as we called ourselves, to make about 150 peanut butter cookies. And I got to know the women around me. I couldn’t have asked for better companions. We ranged mostly from our 20s to 30s. Everyone was friendly, enthusiastic about our tasks (whether it was cooking up what felt like a metric ton of beef for shepherd’s pie, or washing a mountain of dishes at the end of the evening). It helped we had a lot to talk about, as we all work in the same industry. More importantly, we all really wanted to be there, and that made the time fly.

I didn’t get a chance to meet the women we were cooking for, as I imagine they and the Center value their privacy. But it felt amazing to know that our hard work went to people in need.

I’ve never been a part of anything like this before, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. If you’re interested in joining our next round here in LA, let me know! Or simply visit the volunteer portion of the DWC’s website. Not in LA? You can still donate or purchase cool goods made by the women of the DWC on Etsy!

Special thanks to Jillian, who hooked me up with this project and who also makes a mean fruit salad.

#5 was straightforward: I made (healthy) banana bread and brought it into the office to brighten my coworkers’ Monday morning. Recipe here (I add 3 tbs peanut butter and make in a regular loaf pan, none of this “petite loaf” business. Add 15 minutes bake time for full loaf magic).