August/September 2007 Report

Trichelle Keen: sandwich-maker extraordinaire.

HIDDEN HERO

We’d like to introduce you to Trichelle Keen – the recipient of our first ever volunteer service award. The title even came with a small but heartfelt trophy!

Although she’s never been on the streets to serve with us, she’s had a huge hand in helping us feed thousands.

That’s because her hands are the ones that have cooked, prepared and wrapped the vast majority of the 11,000 roast beef sandwiches that we’ve purchased from Arby’s since 2003.

Those sandwiches are the primary staple in every single one of our sack lunches that we serve every Wednesday to people who are hungry, homeless and hurting.

Trichelle has managed Tulsa’s downtown Arby’s for the past seven years, faithfully making our ever-increasing order which we place two days in advance.

Now she’s climbing the corporate ladder. The higher ups recently promoted her to district manager. She’s also one of two training coordinators for Arby’s in Tulsa.

It’s quite possible that we’ve depended on her more than any other person. The sandwiches have to be ready like clockwork every week, and she’s never let us down.

LATEST OUTREACH RESULTS

The turnout at our Aug. 29 outreach was our largest ever. We served 191 sack lunches. We have served 5,570 sack lunches over the first 39 Wednesdays in 2007. That’s an average of 143 per week for the year. And if you go back all the way to 2003, we’ve now served over 11,000 bags since we started.

YOU HUNGRY, TOO?

May we may make a restaurant recommendation? Try Tei Kei’s on Utica if you have a flare for Asian food. The owner – Todd – is one of our new volunteers. We can certainly vouch first-hand for his passion for helping needy people. Special thanks to another new volunteer – Chris Hyslop – for recruiting Todd and 4 other guys lately.

OFF THE STREETS

The people we serve are pretty transparent. They’re not afraid to ask for prayer, share their hurts or talk about their blessings. Such was the case when four of the men we serve told us about the housing they found in August and September. Walter even showed us the key to his place!

DENVER DOUGH

The door to doing ministry in Denver continues to open wide for Filling The Void. We’ve already been lining up prospective volunteers and meeting with key players who can help get us off the ground there. And now we’ve received our first Colorado-based contribution from a new donor in the Denver suburb of Littleton.

WHO’S KIDDING WHO?

The city of Chicago recently took a census. The goal was to take an accurate headcount of the number of homeless people living downtown. They could only find 24. Talk about an incredulous claim! You can click here to read more of their compelling “story."