Girdwood Ladies Help Serve Storm Evacuees - and You Can, Too!

Allison Sayer, left to right, Mereidi Liebner, and Jackie Collins dress for success while volunteering to serve Western Alaska evacuees. (Photo courtesy of Allison Sayer)

By Allison Sayer

TNews Staffwriter

 Longtime Girdwood resident Jackie Collins, former resident Mereidi Liebner, and I, a Girdwood moonlighter, met up at the Wyndham Garden Anchorage Airport Hotel on November 18 to help serve meals to people who were forced to evacuate their homes in Western Alaska.

 The Wyndham Hotel is one of the hotels across the city housing people whose homes were destroyed by Ex-Typhoon Halong. Bean’s Cafe, already tirelessly serving Anchorage’s homeless population, has answered the call to provide hot meals for hundreds of people living in hotel rooms.

 Volunteering was extremely easy, and I’m including some tips in this article in case others would like to volunteer in the future.

 We signed up to volunteer using the portal on the Bean’s Cafe website: https://beanscafe.org/volunteer/. Bean’s Cafe discourages people from “just showing up,” so registering is the way to go. They accept volunteers 16 and older, but 16 and 17-year-olds need an adult supervisor. There are many locations and time slots throughout the city, so it’s important to communicate clearly with people you’re hoping to volunteer with about where and when you want to go.

 We washed our hands, donned plastic aprons, gloves, and head coverings, and got to know our supervisor. Hot tip: You can escape a hairnet if you pull up your hair and wear a beanie. Unless you have a long beard.

 The serving trays were already set up when we arrived, with a large warmer holding back ups. Our job was to make plates or to-go boxes and to help people bag up snacks. In addition to hot meals, guests were encouraged to take back snacks including crackers and fruit. The fresh fruit was definitely a hit.

 We’ve all had the experience of showing up to volunteer somewhere, only to find ourselves hunting down some tool for half our shift. This was absolutely not the case here. Serving utensils, back up fuel for the chafing dishes, bags, boxes, etc. were all available and easy to find.

 Things were fairly slow. Sometimes twenty minutes would go by without a customer. Then one or two people would come in, each requesting a number of meals for their families.

 A few families brought their food to the tables to share after a brief prayer. However, most of the people we served didn’t linger in the dining room. Volunteering wasn’t a particularly profound or emotional experience; we didn’t connect much with the people we were serving besides a brief hello and thank you.

After weeks of living and eating in a hotel, I imagine people are fairly numb to the experience. I was glad to see that at least some of the children were able to find a silver lining in the hotel swimming pool.

 One or two of us would have been more than enough womanpower for the task at hand. Still, I was glad to do something to help make it easier for the people who have been working nonstop since the storm hit to care for the newly dispossessed. Having a team there enabled our supervisor to take breaks and to sit down and eat himself.

 Another highlight for me was getting to know our supervisor, who is currently learning cooking and baking skills through Bean’s Cafe while living in a mens’ home. He shared his experience of learning to communicate with other people in a new way as part of his recovery journey. Having struggled with communication throughout my own life, I was inspired by his example.

 Mereidi and Jackie returned to Anchorage to volunteer on November 25. This time, they went to the main kitchen, where food to be distributed across the city is prepped. Jackie worked on baked goods alongside community volunteers and Bean’s Cafe work trainees. Mereidi found herself washing cases of berries. Jackie’s job was very social, while Mereidi longed for a podcast. Both described the work as “fast paced.”

 Jackie plans to return to the kitchen, this time with members of her family, on December 15. Mereidi and I both plan to schedule a future date. There are volunteer opportunities throughout the city seven days a week, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All you have to do is show up, and the Bean’s Cafe staff will make it easy for you to help just a little bit with a huge undertaking.