If you have not been to Open Hands since October 21 you are in for a real surprise. The old vacant buildings across the alley from us has been razed. It took two days for that which amazed me. I had the joy of watching some of that demolition from our windows and was almost envious of the man operating the heavy equipment. I wanted to ask him if I could take a swing at it just because it has been an eye sore for so long. The future holds a new 6 story apartment building for completion in early 2021. That leads me to tell you of parking changes when you come to volunteer. Parking is limited to say the least. We only have use of the main parking lot on the north side of the building which is also being used by our guests. It is more or less a 'first come, first served' situation. We want to encourage you to carpool when you do come and pay close attention to parking signs on the streets so you don't get towed or tagged as we will not be held responsible for any cost incurred by such an unfortunate situation. This will be the case for many months to come so please just be patient and we will all get through this, just sayin'...
We hope we can count on you to take part in 2019's Give to the Max day which falls on Thursday, November 14 this year. Are you ready to help Open Hands Midway reach our goal of raising $7,000? Donations that day will be matched by the Steiner Charitable Trust. I am so grateful to the people from this trust who find it in their hearts to support the good work we strive to do in the Midway area of St. Paul. If you haven't already done so, mark your calendar so you don't miss out on this special day of supporting your favorite non-profit - - - Open Hands Midway.
I believe I have shared with you my love for biking. On a recent week of vacation I did a lot of biking. One bike trek lead me to a nearby railroad track. Have you ever taken time to stand/sit on a railroad track, look down it and think, "I can't see the end, can't see where this goes." I sat down on this set of railroad tracks where there was a raised concrete section to take this picture (don't worry there were no trains in sight). After taking the picture I just sat there for a long time. I thought about the fact that in life God only reveals to us what we need to see when we need to see it and nothing more. In a sense it's like the long silver rail lines I captured that day in the picture. I wonder what thoughts the picture has for you, just sayin'...
Open Hands has been looking down the railroad tracks at what the future is for us. We made a personnel change this summer/fall. We parted ways with our Independent Contract Accountant and secured the services of a new Accountant shortly thereafter. While this was a difficult, and maybe painful decision, the Board of Directors felt it was in our best interest. We are moving forward with clarity and transparency that has not happened in some time. Many positive helpful changes have already been made which have helped greatly. It is a pretty nice feeling, just sayin'...
Oh and we have some pretty exciting news to share that we will soon be getting a brand new steam/buffet table. Earlier this year we received a grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless along with additional support from two of our faithful partner churches to make this purchase. It seems like a long time since the day we heard we received this money until we actually placed the purchase order but a lot has gone into this. The first stumbling block was realizing the current electrical outlets inside and outside of the building would not accommodate this upgrade. That meant soliciting bids from several electricians to undertake this upgrade. We finally were able to do that and now we are awaiting the finalization of the upgrade. In the meantime the order has been placed and we simply wait for our vendor to inform us of when the unit arrives to them. They are graciously assembling the unit for us and delivering it at not extra cost. Our hope is that by early December we will be serving food from our new steam/buffet table. I'm not sure who is more excited, our cook Steve or myself. When I told Steve I placed the order for our new steam/buffet table he said, 'It'll be like Christmas!' Well Steve, it might be Christmas when we get it. How prophetic your words may turn out to be, just sayin'...
One last plea that you remember Give to the Max day. The opportunity to support a charity of your choice (hint: Open Hands Midway) is coming. Let me ask you now to consider helping fund our free meal and food programs so we can continue to freely receive and freely give to those in need, just sayin'...