Service for Bellingham Community Meals: 3-5-16

The Ospreys reunited this past Saturday for a unique outing: we spent much of a warm and sunny afternoon inside, to bake up a storm for Bellingham Community Meals. BCM is a group of volunteers that comes together once a month to prepare and serve a warm meal free to the community. The only thing that isn't prepared onsite is… DESSERT! This is where we put our energy, and the girls collaboratively counted, measured, stirred, whipped, beat, melted, poured…and cleaned!

After an introduction to our project, we explored questions like: Whose "cups" are we filling today with this project? What other needs are we meeting by helping with this community meal? What would happen in our community without these resources?  The girls responded with thoughtfulness and compassion. We all agreed that filling others’ cups makes our cups more full. Today our goal was to help people meet the basic need of food. But going a step beyond this, the girls discussed how community meals meet other basic needs as well, like love, community, and connection.

Our marshmallow team getting sticky

The girls split into three groups, with determination to stir lots of love into the batter along with the other ingredients. The kitchen was a-flurry with egg cracking, whirling beaters and recipe checking. We remembered to go one step at a time, implementing our motto, “Think It Through Before You Do.” Soon our treats were baking and our mouths were watering, and we began a serious Leave No Trace kitchen clean-up.

The girls also spent some of their day making thoughtful cards for Laurel, who couldn't be with us due to her ailing dog, Storm. The girls spent time writing sweet notes to Laurel and her furry friend, which helped us remember that everyone's Cups need filling sometimes, even our mentors. The Ospreys sprinkled their love into Laurel's heart, and Hannah plans to deliver the cards to Laurel this week!

After our hard work we ate lunch together, in the warm sunshine-- a true miracle for an early spring day! We spent the next few hours playing games in the grass, adventuring down to Marine Park in Wild Whatcom's trusty bus, Moose, playing on big rocks and skipping little ones, and really, just enjoying our time together. We ended our day with an Attitude of Gratitude, sharing our thanks for the ocean, for Bellingham Community Meals, for our group, and for the ability to have Our Cups Overflow. 

Our words of the day? “Cookies, service, ocean, rocks, games, fun and sun!"

Mottos especially in use today: Our Cups Overflow, Leave No Trace, Everybody Helps, All Things Are Connected, Widen Our Circle

Click here for a full photo album from our day!