For the Least of Our Brothers December 20, 2013

This year it was Ron Krier, Mike Volko, Pete Murphy, Tom Conte, and Andrew Rumbold (myself). It was unseasonably warm this year with a high around 60F.  As in the past few years we solicited donations and are grateful to those who selflessly gave money or clothing.  We were trying to remember how long we have been doing this, it has to be close to 10 years.

This year we got a late start because we were still looking for warm jackets, we had tried Kmart, Walmart, even Kohls the night before and come up empty.  It's strange how some years we can find such a great selection and other years nothing.  So we stopped at a different Kmart on the way to the city and found a few.

50 Bag Lunches from Silvio's Deli

Donated and purchased items

Custom coat rack

 

This year was a little different because Ron had sold his van, so we relied on Mike towing a trailer.  It was actually a blessing because we had Tom along this year giving haircuts, and we set him up in the trailer with a pair of clippers, a battery and backup generator, stool, and a light.  He used to own a salon, and gave about 7-8 haircuts during the day and was definitely a hit among the guys we met.

 

We started out as usual right at City Hall by the giant paperclip.  For some reason we never seem to have trouble parking as long as we leave someone with the vehicle, even sitting up to an hour.  So a few of us headed down into the subway with bag lunches from Silvio's Deli (purchased at a discount thank you!) and found some homeless right away.   The usual approach- we profile and ask if they can use a meal, then tell them we have some clothing and ask what they can really use before either heading back to the vehicle with them or just retrieving things and coming back.  In the meantime Tom started giving haircuts in the trailer.

Next we headed a few blocks over to Love Park, found a few more guys for haircuts and lunches, including James who is a veteran.

                            

James before

James after, haircut and new jacket

Due to the late start and giving haircuts, we didn't do as much driving around as we typically would.  Last stop was on the Ben Franklin parkway where we found a whole bunch of guys who were outdoors.  We gave out the remainder of the 50 lunches and a few more haircuts.  Also most of the sleeping bags and tarps here.  Tom moved his barbershop outside for more light.

We got a late start home and got caught in some major traffic.  Another successful mission this year, again thanks to those who donated!

Maybe we can be a little more prepared next year by buying in advance.  Definitely could use more duffle bags and tarps next year.

Merry Christmas!

For the Least of Our Brothers 2011

Sitting here at my computer the day after our annual charity run, my thoughts & prayers can't help but to go out to those homeless we met yesterday, and the ones we didn't meet.  The things most of us take for granted- a roof over our head, hot shower, warm bed, regular meals- there are many here in our midst who look upon these as daily blessings.

This year it was myself, Ron Krier, and Mike Volko who made what has become an annual day of giving to the homeless in Center City Philadelphia.  This year we gave away 44 bag lunches from Silvio's Deli in Hatboro, they bake the rolls fresh on premises and are delicious even to those of us who have regular meals.  We also had a good selection of winter coats, hats, gloves, socks, underwear, thermal underwear, toiletries, sleeping bags, and backpacks that we purchased new in the days before.  

We headed straight for City Hall as we usually do, to head down into the subway by the giant clothespin.  On the way down Mike was dividing the toiletries up into plastic bags to make it easier. Before we even made it there we noticed a few folks on the sidewalks and handed out some lunches and supplies.  We stay away from shelters and try to focus on those folks who also stay away from them because of the trouble that can happen when you get any group together who are competing for limited resources.  This way we also get to spend a minute or two of time in conversation with them and let them know that someone cares.  

It was very warm this year, above 60F and we had to change our tactics somewhat.  Usually the homeless are down below in 15th Street Station or Suburban Station trying to stay warm.  With the warm weather they were out and about more. It can be challenging to identify those in real need, as there are plenty of people out just trying to take advantage of whatever situation they can.  If we're handing out supplies from the van it tends to attract attention of those just looking for free stuff.  We think we get better at weeding them out every year but who really knows?

This year we encountered more ladies than ever before, mostly it is men we find.  We found Linda off to the side in 15th St Station reading the Bible and gave her lunch and some supplies.  Alicia was on the sidewalk and really needed a sleeping bag so we hooked her up. Some folks are very wary and even decline the offer of a meal even though you can tell they need it.  We break the ice with an offer of a good lunch and then try to find out what they really need whether it be a pair of gloves or a sleeping bag.  They will often tell you just what they need, and then point out someone else who can use something.  Some have been out on the streets for 7 years or more, one man I met said it was his first night out.  Sometimes we find a camp, its amazing what they can put together and even more amazing where they are tucked in right next to life as usual in the city.  

Some notes for myself to help in planning next year- a few more sleeping bags, tarps and backpacks would have been good.  Some things for ladies.  Packages of toiletries were good, could have used a few more.  44 lunches was a lot to hand out for the 3 of us, in the end we started giving 2 a person.  Start a little earlier to try and maximize our limited dollars.  We estimate we spent almost $1,000 this year and appreciate the few monetary donations we received!  

On the way out of the city we were talking about how the day went and Mike talked about calling it Project Homeless.  I told him that I came up with a different name last year- "For the Least of Our Brothers" based on the following from the book of Matthew:

    “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

    “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

    “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

    “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” - Matthew 25:31-46

Here are a few photos:

For the Least of our Brothers 2011

ACN IRIS 3000 VIDEOPHONE REVIEW

This review is for the ACN IRIS 3000 Videophone. This phone is a voice over IP (VOIP) phone that promises unlimited calls to the US, Canada, & Puerto Rico and unlimited videophone calls between other ACN videophones, all for the monthly cost of about $40 after taxes & fees.

It is necessary to have a broadband internet connection for this phone to operate. It is supposed to be easy to plug in and turn on, making it appealing for folks with limited technical skills. Also the promise of seeing the person you are talking to is exciting and this promises to be the next wave of technology.

I purchased the phone when I signed up as a representative for ACN, this review in no way reflects an opinion on the opportunity the company provides.

The phone had some high expectations to live up to. Installation was easy- just plug the phone into a high speed internet connection and turn the power on. It registered just fine and voice quality was good. Video quality with other phones took a little time to optimize and was good at best. The largest issue is that the video part only works with other ACN phones and to this date the only people I know who have one are ACN reps or their families.

A few other features of the phone are worth mentioning. You can connect another phone to it and use that for voice calls (cordless phone). You can also plug a USB drive or SD photo card and it will show photos on the 7" screen. I did have to return my original device because of a problem with the screen and it was replaced for free under warranty.

Over the past 6 months I have used the phone extensively in my home office. My complaints are as follows. As anyone who uses a corded phone can attest to, handset cords tend to get tangled after any considerable amount of use- this cord is permanently attached to the handset so is not easily replaceable nor can you use a swivel with it. The speakerphone works well as a speaker can. The larger issues are connectivity and the phone operation itself. Mine frequently drops calls and 'locks up' and must be power cycled, at a rate of at least once per day. Sometimes when you pick up the handset to make a call it takes 10-15 seconds to respond. I have put in several support requests and have made changes in my router to give the phone a static IP address and also open all ports recommended by ACN. I also have a 25/15 MBps FIOS connetion which is the fastest you can get. Not good for a device that promises to be easy to use.

Despite all my issues, so far ACN refuses to waive their early termination fee if I cancel before the 2 year committment is up. I intend to cancel service anyways because the phone is clearly not up to par with what I expect for phone service. My wife hit the nail on the head when she said it was more of a novelty. I am certain that video calls are the future of communication and hopefully ACN will get it right soon. I would not recommend this phone to anyone.

Delaware River Canoe Trip 2009

This was the 25th annual trip organized by my friend Jeff. Its on the upper Delaware starting at Skinners Falls and ending in Minisink, about 25 miles. We leave on Friday and stay at Jeffs place at Lake Wallenpaupack and then Saturday we do about 13 miles to our campsite along the river. This year we stretched it out another day to spend a full day at the campsite which was fun. We leave vehicles parked at strategic places so we don't have to carry all the gear the whole way. We caught a bunch of smallmouth bass with 2 keepers that we had for dinner. The campsite is not a commercial one and we've been lucky not to show up there while someone else is there- or should I say they've been lucky!

Thanks for Jeff for organizing another great trip this year and to Wilton for being the camp bitch.


Here is a link to the photos

Catching up

So this spring we moved our garden to a better spot in our yard and started a compost pile. We started a bunch of greens from seeds and when we finally got them in it started the rainy month of June which held them back but as you will see things are looking up. We got 3 more chickens for a total of 8 hens, the new ones should start laying in the next month or so.

We're keeping busy with our regular jobs and also trying to get the soap business going. No big plans for this summer other than some weekends up at the lake.

Springtime pics- the wisteria was awesome again

Garden pics

Today!

Our neighbors brew beer and have started some hops along the fence.

Dorinda in the News!

We had a story done in the local paper on Wash Tyme and Freedom Fuel! Check it out below:

PhillyBurbs.com: Clean and green

Phillies Game

Andy got to go to the Phillies v Braves game yesterday with a few friends courtesy of Frederick Mutual. The seats were awesome and we got to see the Phillies come from a 10-3 deficit to win the game! We were sitting a few seats away from our Governor Ed Rendell. The beer was cold and the peanuts were good.

Tour of biodiesel plant

My friend John and I drove out to Camp Hill PA today to tour Keystone Biofuels plant, check out the photos on our website http://www.freedomfuelnow.com/

It was pouring on the way out, on the way home the sun was coming out and we saw about 10 rainbows no kidding!

Winter Get-away

We left the chickens in the custody of our neighbors Mike & Amy and drove up to Jay NY 2 Fridays ago to spend a week at Blair & Marjorie's place. Blair, Marjorie, and an old friend Kurt that I used to work with were there for the first few days. We had fun taking walks with the dogs, hanging out and building fires. Kurt left on Monday and Blair & Marjorie left Tuesday morning. Andy went skiing at Whiteface on Wednesday and the rest of the time we spent reading, listening to the radio, and just relaxing. No TV!

Their house is very nice, at the end of a street with hiking trail right out the door. And only 10 minutes from the ski area.

Here are the photos:

More Chickens!

It appears that we will be adding 2-3 more chickens to our herd or flock or whatever you call a group of chickens. Stay tuned for more details and eggs!

Sustainabilty Conference

I (Andy) spoke at a Culinart corporate conference at Columbia University in Manhattan today about biodiesel. They provide food services for many colleges and corporate clients. This is the 2nd conference I spoke at for them. They bought 240 bars of soap from Wash Tyme this month and we're very excited to get the soap in peoples hands to try.

I was one of 4 members of a "distinguished panel"! Just spreading the word about this renewable and recycled fuel, people are just as interested about the soap. The President said that a company mandate as of February is all used fryer oil will be going to companies who make biodiesel! There were 2 sessions of at least 50 people each.

There was a fantastic Mediterranean-style lunch done by some of the company's top chefs. My friend & biodiesel partner John Morano went with me. I'll post up a few pics ASAP.

The Incredible Edible Egg!

So we're getting about 4-5 delicious fresh organic eggs per day! The birds are funny because in spite of having 2 nests they only lay in one.

For the Least of our Brothers 2008

For the 4th year in a row (3 for me) some friends and I distributed lunches and warm clothes to the homeless in Center City Phila. This year it was Ron Krier, Mike Volko, and myself. We did get quite a few donations which helped with our limited funds and special thanks go out to Pat, Jane, Arlene, Jim @ BCCC, ONeill Family, Boomer, Justin, Deb & Rich, Ken & Jill, and Wash Tyme. I hope I did not forget anyone.

We met up around 915 am and loaded up Rons van with jackets, hats, gloves, socks, underwear, sweatshirts, blankets, backpacks, pants, shoes, & sleeping bags and stopped by Silvio's Deli to pickup 40 brown bag lunches with a sub, chips, soda, and cookie in each. They bake their own rolls on premises and the subs are really good, and they give us a break on the price for charity.

Since we've been doing this a few years we have a good idea where to find these folks. At the end of the day we'll drop off the remaining items at a shelter but we find its more rewarding actually searching out people who need things the most and the 1 on 1 interaction is best. For the most part they are very respectful and only take what they really need knowing we only have so much to give. Sometimes people will start to crowd the van and we're not really sure if they are homeless but we try to use our best judgement. Just the interaction and asking their name helps their self-esteem.

One interesting thing that one of us noticed was watching the reaction of other people watching us giving the stuff out. I'm sure many just walk by these people all day long and don't stop to think about the situation someone who does not have a home is in. Hopefully we planted a seed for someone to stop thinking of themselves first and serve others in whatever small way they can.

So I'm sitting here in my warm house looking out the window at it snowing or is it freezing rain right now and can't help thinking about our brothers & sisters out there just trying to survive. If we all just do a little it adds up to a lot.

Matthew 25
34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
40"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Do You know where Your Food Comes From?

Today I helped our friend Tom Colbaugh process some turkeys for the upcoming holiday. We've been getting a local farm raised bird for the past few years- once you have an organic farm raised bird you will never go back to a frozen boat anchor from your local supermarket.

The hardest part is catching them, I personally didn't bleed any but I did everything else, add another skillset to my toolbox! After putting the birds in a sack with their head sticking out, they are hung upside down and their carotid artery is cut. It takes about 3-4 minutes for them the peacefully bleed out. Then their legs are removed at the knee joint and they are put into a scalding water bath for about 30 seconds, then into the de-feathering machine. It spins them around and rubber fingers pluck most of the feathers. Then the neck and entrails are removed, the neck, heart, and liver are put into a bag and stuffed inside the cavity and then they are soaked in water and then bagged and put into cooler.

Doylestown Hospital Green Fair

Today Dorinda, Abby, & Andy took part in a Green Fair at Doylestown Hospital. It was for vendors of the hospital to showcase their 'green' side. Diane Pennington invited us after a meeting with Andy last week. Bucks County Freedom Fuel will be partnering with the hospital to recycle their used cooking oil to make biodiesel and Wash Tyme uses the vegetable glycerol left over from that process. It was open to hospital employees and volunteers from 12-2pm. We estimate there were 150-200 people that came through. We had a table right up front when you came in and got very positive response. We gave away small soap samples, answered questions, and got some good exposure for our soap and website. It was a lot of fun! Here are some photos:

Chicken update

We went away for a few days to be at my Godson Joel's baptism and Rob's sister Jena & Justin's wedding in Butler PA and we came home to our first egg! Since then another chicken started laying so we are getting about 2 per day and the other 3 will kick in soon we hope. I got the outdoor run finished and also the henhouse. All that is left is to get roof panels so I put up a tarp for the time being. Here are a few photos:

Announcing Wash Tyme!

Dorinda and her friend Abby are now officially in business! They are making and selling homemade glycerine soap from the by-product of making biodiesel from used cooking oil. So we are recycling 100% of this oil after it was used to fry food.


I met a local guy who helped us with the biodiesel process and him and his wife started making and selling the soap. They had too much on their plate so we bought the equipment and some soap they had made, we had bought some from them before and loved how well it worked and that it was a natural product from a recycled material.

The process works like this: We collect used fryer oil, let it settle and filter it for food particles and water. We then react it with a solution of methanol and caustic soda at 130F for 2 hours in a tank that is circulated with a pump and then allow it to settle overnight. It settles into 2 distinct layers- the top being biodiesel and the bottom layer is a vegetable glycerine. We drain off the glycerine and 'wash' the biodiesel before using it. Then it is necessary to recover residual methanol from the glycerine which is done by distillation up to 260F.

In the transesterification process described above much of the process of saponification has taken place. To finish the process we follow a recipe developed by a guy from Canada. We can make bar soap and liquid. Here are some photos of Dorinda and Abby making bar soap.


We're also working on making a gel type soap. The liquid works awesome as a degreaser, for laundry, washing pets, etc. For the bar soap we add only scents and shea butter or olive oil. None of the chemical additives found in commercial soaps. It not only works great at cleaning any type of organic stains but doesn't dry out your skin.



We are working on a new logo and updating the website http://www.washtyme.com/ , it has a fully functional shopping cart so please help support us and tell everyone you know!

Updates

Sorry for lack of content, we've been very busy since our vacation. We'll get some new photos up soon of the new chicken coop and our new soap business!

Stay tuned....

Rocky Mountain Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation out to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, see following album: you probably will want to pause the slideshow so you can read the descriptions at your own pace- just put the mouse over the album and click the pause button and then use the arrows to navigate.

I was looking for a specific car and found it in Houston of all places so I got a short visit with Melissa & family. Then I headed to Atlanta and met up with my friend John Cash. We drove up thru Smoky Mt National Park and stayed in Gaitlinburg TN and I drove home the next day. The car drives great and runs fantastic on B100- thats 100% biodiesel. Few minor issues but overall a great car that will hopefully last us many years and get us around in style.