Homeless Meal Service Resumes in May 2013
Watch here! Documentary of Uchideshi Training Beyond the Mat; Homeless Meal Service
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Church
AHAN Nippon Kan’s 22 years of service to the homeless at the Denver Rescue Mission came to a close in October, 2012. There were a number of reasons for this decision but basically my thinking was that we wanted to concentrate our efforts more directly on those in need, not where homeless people were used to make a living.
We were looking for a place where we could volunteer our service directly to the people in need of support. We found this at St Elizabeth of Hungary Church, located on the Colorado Auraria College Campus. Actually, since the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church was built in 1898, the Colorado Auraria College Campus was built around the church!
On May 19th, 2013 we resumed our meal service to the homeless at St. Elizbeth’s every third Sunday of the month. St. Elizabeths supports a meal service to those in need on a daily basis, and on our first day, news spread among our guests that “Gaku was back” and about 250 meals were served that day!
Many people in need line up for the meal service.
Denver City Council Woman Debbie Ortega attending.
Meal service at St. Elizabeth’s is different than the rescue mission. Meals at St. Elizabeth’s are served outside in the alleyway behind the church and there is much more close, hands on interaction between servers and guests. It felt good to pass the meals directly into the hands of those in need and to join in the spirit of the group. The atmosphere was good! Guests were chatting and laughing together, and even listening to music as they ate their meals.
Communication through the service.
Our meals for the homeless at the rescue mission were served in the evenings. At St. Elizabeth’s, the meals are served from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. which meant our preparation routine needed to be changed. To fit our new service schedule, our meal preparation is now conducted the day before the meal service after Saturday morning practice. On the Sunday morning of the meal service, the uchideshi and I begin cooking at the dojo at 5 am. St. Elizabeths is very close to Nippon Kan; within a 10 minute walking distance so after the meals are prepared at Nippon Kan’s Domo Restaurant they are loaded and transported to the church for the service. An advance team of Nippon Kan volunteers goes a little earlier to prepare drinks and deserts and set up the tables. Since the meals are not cooked on site, once we arrive with the food, it takes only about two hours for the meals to be served and the premises cleaned.
We are very thankful to St. Elizabeth of Hungary for allowing us this opportunity and hope the tradition will continue well into the future.
Reported by
Gaku Homma
Nippon Kan Kancho
AHAN Nippon Kan Homeless Food Service Project Report
68,238 meals served from 1991 to Oct 2012
Total cost: $8000USD Total volunteers 5000
May 19th 2013 — 250 meals
June 16th 2013 — 275 meals
July 21st 2013 — 252 meals
Aug 18th 2013 — 225 meals
Sept 21st 2013 — 248 meals
Oct 20th, 2013 — 295 meals
Total meals served since 1991: 69,558 meals