March 2008, San Francisco

I have not written until now, partly because I have been finding it difficult to put in words the experience of last Wednesday afternoon at Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco.

To say that I was moved by this is an understatement. I have to say that I was genuinely a little concerned about this activity. My experience in volunteerism has been with people who have been a little down on their luck, but not necessarily as desperate as I knew that some of these people were going to be. I think that I was approaching this with a certain level of trepidation at what sort of confrontational experience I was in for.

What I got was so much more than I expected. Emma Robinson and I decided the only way we were going to be able to get through this was to roll up our sleeves and go for it...so we did just that! Within 5 minutes of registering, I found myself doing everything from breaking up cardboard boxes to preparing food, from taking people to their table to get a meal to helping them find their way to the next station. It was crazy, frenetic; but most of all - it was awesome fun!

Beyond this though was the revelation that I had personally about the people that we were serving. I was overwhelmed by the dignity that these individuals had and the barriers that were being broken down everywhere I looked. To see so many people willing to give up their own time to make a difference to others, combined with the good grace in which it was being received, was humbling and put a whole lot of things back into perspective.

I just wanted to say thanks for the opportunity and to say if you need a reference for why we should do this EVERY time it is on, I am happy to be that reference point. This is what our Foundation is all about and it is just awesome.

Andrew Everingham
Marketing Director - Australia & New Zealand