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Thursday, January 28, 2010

2 truths & a lie: Miriam's Kitchen-- special edition



Who: Miriam's Kitchen

What: Miriam's Kitchen provides free, homemade meals and support services to over 4,000 of Washington D.C.'s homeless every year.

Why we are obsessed: I volunteered with Miriam's Kitchen while I was doing my internship in Washington D.C. last summer. I even won 2nd place in their pie baking contest!

I was first drawn to them as an organization due to their focus on serving their guests with dignity. Literally, when they would tweet their menu in the morning I would be DROOLING.

So I went in and did jobs that varied from peeling a million potatoes to frying a million plantains. When I was really lucky, I would be able to serve the guests. "Would you like some syrup with your pancakes?" was one of my favorite positions. Or manning the milk cart. That was fun, too.

Each staffer at Miriam's treats their guests like their own family. They care about getting them support, whether that's a warm meal, a pair of socks, housing, a canvas to paint, or someone to talk to.

Oh, and the White House loves them, which is pretty neat. (See the First Lady in the photo above!) Miriam's was one of the beneficiary's from the snazzy White House organic garden, actually!

Miriam's also hit a huge milestone recently. They were able to expand their services to offer dinner meals as well. This takes what they do to a totally new level of awesomeness.

Miriam's Kitchen is one of those places that you feel good supporting and blogging about about a million times. (Like I do.) They really inspire me to push the limits and keep growing and to not get comfortable just thinking that you are doing enough for your community and the world.

So, regardless of us draining our accounts to send money to our colleagues in Haiti, we need to send some barley&birch dollars to Miriam's Kitchen.

So let's test your knowledge of homelessness. For every person that attempts to guess the one INCORRECT fact below, barley&birch will donate $1 (which is an entire meal for a guest) to Miriam's Kitchen.

Which one is NOT TRUE:


1. A typical guest at Miriam’s Kitchen has been homeless for nearly 5 years.


2. Most of our guests stay in transitional housing, but come to us for their meals and support services that aren’t available in their home

3.
One of our guests has his painting of Barack Obama hanging in the White House.


Start guessing!


P.S. Please check out their website, follow them on Twitter. They often tweet their "wish list" which contains things as simple as socks, jeans, and coffee. Consider spending a few extra bucks the next time you are at the grocery store and shipping off a box of goodies to them.

73 comments:

  1. I think #2 is the lie.

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  2. Perhaps #2.
    yay for miriam's kitchen!

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  3. I'll dare to be different--I say #1 is the lie.

    Great post!

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  4. Since I wrote the lie, I won't guess. But instead, I'll thank Kyle and b&b for being so generous. We miss you terribly here in DC and are so thankful for the time you spent here at Miriam's Kitchen. We can't wait to see everyone's guesses!

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  5. I'm guessing #2!

    I am volunteering for my first ever dinner shift at Miriam's this coming Monday. :) Looking forward to it!

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  6. I'm hopping on the bandwagon to guess #2, too. Had a great time manning the milk cart this morning.

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  7. I'm guessing #1. My father lived in transitional housing and were it not for the services of such places would have not been able to get a substantial meal most days. God bless people and places like this.

    Also, it is not difficult to imagine recent economic shifts causing a number of people to become homeless.

    Finally, the mortality rate for people that are homeless is far greater than that of the national average.

    So, my guess is #1. Hope this helps someone.

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  8. My guess is number 2

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  9. Great article, and great organization.

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  10. I'm guessing #2... while I'm sure there are a lot of people in transitional housing who come to Miriam's, I bet that most of the people who come are not necessarily in transitional housing.

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  11. My guess is #2 is incorrect.

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  12. I guess #2 as well---and sorry I didn't comment sooner----BUSY:)

    (I really want to visit this place!)

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  13. I'm going to say #2! Thanks Nicole for sending this out!

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  14. I'll go with #3, to be different. But your generosity and passion is no lie.

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  15. I think #2 as well. Thanks for supporting a great org!

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  16. I think it's number # 2 too.

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  17. hmmm I'm going to guess #3 sorry for the lateness! accounting = total brain takeover :)

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  18. I say #2, and that we miss Hillary!!

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  19. I'm gonna guess #2, now give someone a free meal please! ;-D

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  20. Number two has to be a lie

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  21. It is most definitely number two!!!

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  22. I'm going to guess #1...what's the answer?

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  23. #3!! How could it get past the art decorator in the White House?

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  24. OMGoodness, it's straight up midnight... hope I'm not too late...! #2 ;)

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  25. i just got off work so mine should still count. i think it's number 1.

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  26. I think it's number one. Am I too late???

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  27. I'll guess #1! Thanks for doing this! I am also a big Miriam's fan.

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  28. I'm guessing #1 is incorrect.

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  29. We miss you Kyle! And you know we can use as many people as possible to peel all those potatoes! I know the answer but not giving it away! Thank you to everyone who is posting comments and helping to serve our guests with delcious and nutritious meals!

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  30. I'll guess that #1 is wrong. I'm just worried that most Miriam guests have been homeless longer than 5 years.

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  31. Way to go, Miriam's!

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  32. #2 is a lie, there are too many barriers to transitional housing! Thanks for your positive blogging.

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  33. Coming back for a second guess:P And to mix it up I'll guess #3 is a lie (although to be totally honest I hope its true just for the coolness factor)

    <3 Sara Sophia

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  34. I'm guessing #2 is the lie. I was the intern this past summer for Miriam's Kitchen and I believe most of the guests were not in transitional housing, due to the overall scarcity of it. I'll feel bad if I'm wrong! Thanks for helping Miriam's Kitchen!

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  35. I'm gonna go with #2 as well!

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  36. #2! Wasn't a painting given to the first lady as a gift? Miriam's rocks!

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  37. I too actually know the answer, but am SO grateful to Barley and Birch for their support! My little one also sports a Barley and Birch t-shirt and hat and loves it!

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  38. sounds like I'm going to be going with the flow here - but I'm thinking it's #2.

    Any you all - rock!

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  39. i think #3 is a lie

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  40. I just straight up vote to feed the homeless:)

    And THAT is no lie:)

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  41. hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....

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  42. I'd say #2 is the lie.

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  43. Hi I liked your information is very interesting ... these blogs about such interesting topics and I think I should love to offer more of these items as excellent ... thanks for the post

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