Saturday, December 5th, the Glendale Church of Christ will be hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary Dive!

There will be a question and answer session with filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and an opportunity to indulge yourself with the “best dumpster food you’ve ever eaten!”

According to the Facebook event page:

Dive! follows Jeremy Seifert and friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of Los Angeles’ supermarkets. In the process, they salvage thousands of dollars worth of good food and uncover a disturbing truth about waste in America. The goal quickly becomes to find out why so much edible food is thrown away instead of being delivered to those who need it. The result is equal parts entertainment, guerrilla journalism and call to action.

If you’re on Facebook, rsvp for the event ahead of time. This should be a really cool night.

Learn more about the film at www.divethefilm.com.

Friday Night

Shared a huge plate of nachos at Sharky’s with Erin and then watched There Will Be Blood. I’m not sure the movie would have been very interesting without the score. Jonny Greenwood’s music really gave the movie its eerie quality. 

Saturday

We slept in and around noon went down to Irvine with Erin’s parents to celebrate my brother in-law and sister in-law’s birthdays, which were back in November.  We’re a little behind.  In fact, now that that’s done we need to celebrate Christmas with a few friends, but that’s another story for another time.

In Irvine we ate some great food and had a great time together.  We played Mario Kart and Guitar Hero while baking cookies, and eating way too much. Book ending out visit to Irvine was lunch at a local brewery and dinner at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ.  Both were very enjoyable.

Sunday

Sunday at church we had our annual corporate meeting following the morning service.  It’s a state requirement that we hold a meeting each year.  Usually it’s a very quick meeting in which we elect members of the congregation to serve as trustees.  This year I was voted in as a trustee. Kind of cool.  I’m not exactly sure what it means yet.

Anyway, after church a large group went to Fudrucker’s for lunch and as we were getting ready to leave for our respective homes we received word that a beloved member of our church had just passed away.  Even though her health had been progressively declining, it still came as a shock. 

The rest of Sunday afternoon we were kind of in a funk, so Erin and I just lounged around the house until it was time to go serve dinner at the local homeless shelter (PATH Achieve) with our small group. 

After serving dinner at PATH Achieve, we had a leisurely dinner with a couple friends at Chevys. Before too long it was time to go home and prepare for another week of work.

Here are a few local non-profits you might consider supporting if you’re in the Los Angeles area.

• Union Station Homeless Services
• Union Rescue Mission
• PATH Achieve
• LA Food Bank

And, here’s a list of internationally reaching organizations that a friend of mine compiled in honor of the season.

St. Mark’s Pancake Breakfast
Saturday, November 15th from 8-11 AM at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale.
Proceeds benefit San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity and Burbank Kiwanis for Fun. There is a suggested donation of $6 per person.

Twitter Food Bank Project
Saturday, November 15th.
Donate to your favorite food bank on Saturday, November 15th and spread the word on Twitter.

So, it looks like all signs are go for the shelter to be opened December 1st through March 15th at the National Guard Armory down the street from my house. I have to admit, even with my strong feelings about needing to help the homeless and those less fortunate than I, I’m a little apprehensive about having a shelter in my back yard. I understand why people would oppose it.

Truth is, the city and those running the shelter seem to be doing everything in their power to ensure the saftey of the neighborhood, and as it is, Burbank PD patrols the area pretty regularly already. I’m sure we’ll be kept safe.

Shelter residents will be bussed into the location in the afternoon and back out in the morning which should really mean little impact for people like me. And, to be honest, I didn’t even notice that the shelter was opened last year when I moved into the area in January, and I anticipate it will be the same this year.

I’m excited that my city is taking steps to help those who have had a stroke of bad luck. I hope this small hand out will help a few have a happier holiday season.

Homeless Connect Day, is a one day event that seeks to pull all of the local service agencies together in one place so that people seeking services can get everything they need in one stop. It’s a great idea, and one I would like to see executed in other cities. My only observation is, why isn’t this being done year-round?  The need is there.

• PATH Achieve
• Burbank Temporary Aid Center
• Union Station Homeless Services