On April 11, 1997, I was given the Best of Bellevue Award for Best Volunteer . The Best of Bellevue is sponsored by Advanced Bellevue of Bellevue, Washington. The event was held at the Wintergarten in the Bellevue Hilton. Really a very nice affair. Food was prepared and served by several local restaurants, so there was a nice variety of eats. And it was attended by some of Bellevues Elite. The awards are presented annually to the people or busineses that make a difference in Bellevue. The list of Honorees for 1997 are: My award was for the 8+ years that I have spent running a meal program for the hungry in Bellevue. I spend 1 to 1 1/2 hours at Crossroads Community Center every night, except weekends and Holidays. And yes, I did this while I was receiving treatment for cancer. I only missed the month of December. That was the time period when I was feeling my worst.
Running the meal program is an activity that I enjoy greatly and never expected to receive to receive an award for it. The award really should have gone to both my wife and I as she is up there almost as much as I am and assists in the meal program also. And my kids have to put up with it too. However I think that they feel that it is entirely normal by now.
I have seen many people come and go through the years. And it gives me great satisfaction to know that I had a minor part in helping them through trying times. My wife and I ran into one couple recently that used to come to the meal program. When they started coming they had 1 child and were living in their van. Now he is working at a good paying job and they are buying a nice house in a nice neighborhood. I see a large number of immigrants that come in and soon start working and earning a place in our society. Seeing the people that I do, in the circumstances that they are in, and them working to better themselves, makes me very impatient with the right-wing rhetoric about the poor and immigrants.
I better go now, before I start to rant endlessly.
Home