[ Golden Gater Online - December 16, 1997 ]
Bill Blackwell II and John Geluardi
Staff writers
In a steamy, cramped kitchen in the Mission district, Genevieve Ongsioco and Marilyn Myers are practicing the art of making do. Working with donated food, the SF State students volunteer their time and cooking skills to the homeless.
Members of Food Not Bombs, a political group that provides free meals to the homeless, cook at different houses every day. Friday is women's day when only women are allowed to prepare and deliver the meals. According to Ongsioco, there can be anywhere from two to seven volunteers helping out.
"I wanted to be active in social change and community work," said Ongsioco, who has been a member of the group since last summer. "I like being able to talk about women's issues and working together as a team."
They begin cooking at 2:30 p.m. and are ready to deliver the meals by 6:30 p.m. When they arrive at United Nations Plaza, there is already a line of about 15 people.
They feed about 50 people a day. Most of the faces are new, but about 30 percent are regulars. Before they are done, they go through 15 gallons of soup, two five-gallon buckets of salad and a huge amount of bread. Any leftover food goes to the detox center on Fell Street.
Food Not Bombs was started in January 1988 as an answer to the rising homeless problem in San Francisco. The group believes that they should not just provide meals but healthy nutritious meals. The grassroots group uses food donated by different health food stores and bakeries and serve vegetarian-only and mainly organic meals.
"It's good nutritious food that we need the most, and it's hard to get," Ongsioco said.
Food Not Bombs always needs help. Orientation meetings for volunteers are held at 7 p.m. every Thursday at 475 Valencia and 16th Street.
[ Golden Gater - December 16, 1997 ]