Thanksgiving 2011 at Union Rescue Mission

The photos in this album were taken on November 19, 2011 at Union Rescue Mission in Downtown Los Angeles. This was the 120th Thanksgiving event by Union Rescue Mission.

Hundreds of volunteers served in excess of 3,000 meals.  It took a lot of help to feed thousands on this special day.  Many of my friends helped directly and I mentioned all of you that I knew about on my blog post which has been active since 2010 at http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2010/11/help-me-provide-thanksgiving-meals-at.htmlOnce again, thank you all very much.

The even was more than just a great meal. There were hot showers, free hygiene supplies, fresh socks, live entertainment and more.

More below.

Union Rescue Mission is the largest mission in the United States sitting at ground zero in Skid Row which has the highest homeless population of any city in America.

The initial shots here are from my cell phone. These were uploaded in real time to facebook and twitter. There are many more shots which I will upload over the next few days which I took with a more conventional camera.

In the last few days I received a number of requests from folks asking me if they could volunteer to help. This event is one where you need to sign up to volunteer months in advance. Keep that in mind if you wish to volunteer next year on Thanksgiving or Christmas.

In the meantime, you can help in many other ways. Head to the URM website at http://www.urm.org/ to stay informed and see the various ways you can help.  URM helps the homeless 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and always needs donations, volunteers, clothes and supplies of all kinds and more.

It takes a lot of help to serve over 5,000 people at Thanksgiving.

Eight guest were seated at each table served by four servers who brought food to each guest.

As most things at Union Rescue Mission, things were organized and efficient. A well oiled machine that could teach the military a thing or two. Then again, even of URM could teach organization I do not think they could show others how operate with this degree or organization AND compassion.

The slide show below will be expanded over the next few days as more photos are uploaded.  These shots were all taken during the 2011 event at URM.  In my flickr albums I have other shots of prior URM events. 

I may be mistaken but I think the video below is from 2009 but is applicable today. In 2010 the event served twice as many people.  This year in 2011 the numbers doubled again.  The economy is taking a toll on many more people each month.

Whether you have strong religious beliefs or not, the video below shows many aspects of skid row and the homeless.


Sleeping on Skid Row Thanksgiving Eve from Enoch Magazine on Vimeo.

Thank you to the hundreds (literally) of volunteers, to the staff of Union Rescue Mission, to Andy Bales CEO of Union Rescue Mission and his staff,  and to the folks below who are my personal friends who stepped up and donated this year.  Many of you also helped last year as well.  This list is not complete by any means.  These are the people that I shared dialogue with where I was personally aware of their direct involvement.

Tammy Knight-Gibbons - http://www.cupcapesfalmouth.com/
Michael Zaite and Family / Dr. Z Amps - http://www.drzamps.com/
Loni Specter - http://www.ampshow.com/
Dan Boul and Family / 65 Amps - http://www.65amps.com/
Mercury Magnetics - http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/ - Amazing iron!
Victor Rocha - http://www.pechanga.net/ - http://www.pechanga.com/
George Metropoulos - http://metroamp.com/
Wallace Amplification - http://wallaceamps.com/
Darryn Waites - http://www.tuskbuffer.net/
Sam Hunter - http://www.samhunterart.com/
RIT Music - http://www.hollandrit.com/
Lynne Robin Green
CEO & President Lansdowne/Winston/Bloor/Hoffman House Music Publishers
http://www.lwbhmusicpublishers.com/
Tony Conley - http://rockguitardaily.blogspot.com/
Carp Amplification - http://www.carpamps.com/
Carrie and Dave Gonsalves
Gary Hooker
Jennifer Moody
Eric Carpenter
Ken Krupnik Music
Dennis Tudor
Newport Slim
Ignazio Vagnone
Dave Asmussen
Dara Stevenson
Richard Clinton
Bruce Cooke
Jacob Moses
Larry David Cohen
Don Genaro
Camaray Davalos
Mooch Dih
Joseph Glosz
Jason Pastrana
Pete Klindt
Dave Arthur
Peggy Loveman-Sherer
Ed Supple
Renae Lackey
Heitor Iglesias de Paula
Randy Creath
Hans Egil
Patrick Murphy
Kevin Lamb
Eric Carpenter
David Mendenhall
Kim Rose
Natalie Rose
Mark Ennis and Marlene
Mary Kline

The Z amp community from http://ztalk.proboards.com/
Dr. Z, Michael Zaite - the man himself - Godfather/Owner/Creator Z Amplification http://www.drzamps.com/
Paul (TRANE) - New Mexico - Dr. Z amp Forum
Albert from NW Indiana; the Dr. Z Forum
Zed from the Dr. Z Forum
"Z" Steve from the Dr. Z Forum
Edward Balaschak - Eschak on the Z Forum
Scotty from Texas on the Dr. Z Forum
6strang (aka Paul) Big Rapids, MI - Dr. Z Amp Forum
mpa93 - Ontario - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Tony L Stovall - T-R☼CK ♫ on the Dr. Z Forum - Tennessee
Lee (maddog) from Texas - Dr. Z Amp Forum
heynewguy(aka Bill) from New Jersey - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Robert (aka meanslide) from California - Dr. Z Amp Forum
PaulT (Bluzman) - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Jennifer from Florida - Dr. Z Amp Forum
randalp3000 from Michigan - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Peter Graham - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Bob (rjc1811) - Dr. Z Amp Forum
rockinmac - Northwest NC, Dr. Z Amp Forum
Nick MkII (Nicholas) - Dr. Z Amp Forum
twoscoobysnacks - Dr. Z Amp Forum and http://www.warriorcry.org/
number9 - Dr. Z Amp Forum
roscoenyc from NYC - Dr. Z Amp Forum
Ignatius? (Gary) - Dr. Z Amp Forum
GuitarZ - West Chester, PA - Dr. Z Amp Forum - http://www.mikezband.com/
Don - Midwest U.S. - Global Moderator on the Dr. Z Amp Forum
Eddie from Ohio from the Dr. Z Forum
Tom Breitsch aka cap10toons- Dr. Z Amp Forum
Mike (aka doctorice) - Dr. Z Amp Forum

The gang from http://www.musicplayer.com/ / Guitar Player Magazine
Caevan O'Shite
Bluesape
Sharkman
WPsmith