Cultivating grace
Kam’s Kookery steps up for lunch at Homeless Alliance
Turning the Table on Hunger got kick-started for 2018 this month when local chefs Kamala Gamble and Barbara Mock led a contingent of volunteers into the kitchen at the WestTown day shelter at the Homeless Alliance.
Gamble and Mock, recent cover girls for the most recent issue of “The OK,” are the culinary principals behind Kam’s Kookery and Guilford Gardens. They offer a full range of catering and event services through Kam’s Kookery. Guilford Gardens is headquarters for a community-assisted agriculture program, which draws much of its bounty from the microacreage that’s blossomed behind Gamble’s backyard and into two adjacent properties.
Pretty soon, Kam’s Kookery will have its own operating space.
“We just signed the lease and everything,” Gamble said.
For now, you can check out the amazing work they do atkamskookery.com.
For their lunch service at WestTown, Kam and Barb concentrated on simplicity and nourishment. Meatloaf, green beans, carrots and a fresh roll.
It might’ve been a far cry from the high-end catering menus drawn from their fabulous gardens, but the enthusiastic clients on hand had no trouble lining up line and coming back for more. Not only did they feed the masses, they made enough meatloaf for a second service.
To make it all happen in one morning, Gamble and Mock brought a strong contingent of volunteers. Kam brought her 9-year-old son, Mason, along with Michelle Wicks, Toni Gray, Jenny Dunham, Madelein Quinonez, Sarah Morgan and Oralia Barrios.
January can be a challenging month to draw volunteers.
“The holidays are always the busiest times in terms of volunteers and donations. Being relatively new to the nonprofit world, I’m always blown away by people’s generosity and just how busy things get in November and December,” said Kinsey Crocker, director of communications for the Homeless Alliance. “But the need goes on year round. I think the State Farm commercial says it best. The one with a man singing the Simple Minds song, “Don’t you Forget About Me.” He is playing the piano in a shelter or soup kitchen and it flashes from a bustling holiday scene with tons of volunteers to a drab sad scene with hardly any volunteers. It’s a powerful message that really resonates with me. Plus, it’s just a really good song.”
Variety of needs
If cooking breakfast or lunch doesn’t align with your skill set, whatever talents and training you have can no doubt be a help to the Homeless Alliance.
“We love getting help from professionals who have a trade that they are willing to share,” Crocker said. “Licensed plumbers, electricians, arborists, landscapers or other professional contractors can volunteer their time at nonprofits to help with minor repairs and upkeep. And we would love to have help from them all!”
When I arrived to help Kam and Barb, the campus kennel was exposed thanks to missing a panel of wooden fencing stripped away by a recent wind storm.
Recent cold temperatures and the high winds they rode in on make life especially difficult for our neighbors who primarily sleep outside. Kinsey said gloves, hats and hand warmers continue to be in high demand.
One of the most encouraging advances the Homeless Alliance has made in recent years are the WestTown Apartments. The transitional housing includes Welcome Home closets stocked with simple necessities like cleaning supplies, bath towels, cooking utensils, pots and pans, shower hooks and curtains. Crocker said supplies for that program are running low.
“We’d also really like a picnic table for our WestTown Apartments,” Crocker said.
So any carpenter or craftsmen willing to deliver or build a table for the tenants to gather around need simply to contact the Homeless Alliance.
As for the day shelter kitchen, manager Delbert Briggs also is dealing with post-holiday blues. He said the pantry shelves are getting bare across the board. Basics like spices, vegetable oil, butter, cheese, flour, sugar, fresh vegetables and canned goods are needed. As far as equipment, he said he could use large commercial skillets to help the cause.
This also is the time of year the Homeless Alliance, its partners and an army of volunteers engage in the annual Point in Time Count of the homeless in Oklahoma City.
During the last week of January, teams visited shelters, hot meal programs and encampments to count and survey people experiencing homelessness.
While the official report won’t be released until later this year, Crocker expects to see an increase in both those living unsheltered and the number of families with children, based on preliminary information from outreach teams, the day shelter and reports from other agencies.
“Typically, our day shelter averages around 300 people per day,” she said. “This month, we have routinely seen 375 to 400 people. Yesterday, we served 408 people.”
And while Crocker was happy to report that the Homeless Alliance housed 789 people in Oklahoma City through various programs and collaborative initiatives, she also said the day shelter served a record high 6,063 unduplicated guests.
“That 6,000 number is key because there were fewer than 8,000 people experiencing homelessness in our community last year, so we saw more than three-fourths of all of Oklahoma City’s homeless population.”
How to help
The Homeless Alliance is the front door to community services and the way to a secure living space. To make sure it stays open, community support is essential.
Whether you can donate time, skills or financial support, go to homelessalliance.org and click on the Get Involved Tab.
Or go to the United Way of Central Oklahoma’s volunteer hub, volunteercentraloklahoma. org.