i am blessed.the universe has decided to shower me with gifts. i think i'm going to collapse from the weightlast week Madhavi and I were manning a BTC booth. we were giving out Tsunamikas, which are these tiny hand-made dolls sewn together from scraps by women who survived the tsunami in India. People kept asking us how much they cost, and we kept saying freeeeee!a woman gets out her checkbook and we tell her we're not accepting donations today...she presses a $40 check into my hand anyway.* * *on Thanksgiving we're preparing a meal for 200 people at the homeless drop-in center. for the last few weeks we've been trying to solicit ingredients and/or gift certificate donations from grocery stores, with very little luck.then Trader Joes says they will give me about $30 worth of groceries.i walk down an aisle trying to figure out what to buy, and one of the store managers runs up to me with a cart. we start throwing things into the basket...what about this what about that do you want some of this? i say can i get corn? OK! and we practically fly thru the store like contestants in Supermarket Sweep. i look at our cart and i ask him is this too much?he says let's get more...when we get to the checkout i'm $20 over. i look at him and he says "good, girl" then he's gone! he zips off with the receipt, i barely have time to say thank you.* * *i'm looking for Thanksgiving decorations for the event, 99 cent store doesn't have much of a selection so i go with natural beauty: leaves and sticks. i drive around on random errands and all of a sudden it seems the streets are littered with orange and gold leaves! Even the trees give me gifts! on my way home i get out of my car to collect pine cones.* * *someone is not letting me pay. so when i go out to eat with BTC, magically my bill is paid. when i get to the counter, the cashier won't take my money. or the waitress tells me an anonymous person has covered me. and i know who it is! i know its him, most of the time. but it still happens even when he's not there.speaking of, the other night he cut in front of me at the parking structure exit, then when i pulled up to the kiosk the parking attendant smiled and told me to go through because someone had already paid my parking fee. do you see what i mean?all the time....* * *i'm going to Sri Lanka next month... my mom doesn't exactly approve, and occasionally she will let me hear it.when am i going to start working again? that's a popular question tooalthough her words disagree sometimes, at the end of the day her actions support me 100%and the reality is, i know that i would not be going, if not for my parents.i could not spend my time volunteering right now, if not for my parents.i know i'll have to go back to work eventually, but this time right now is a gifteveryday is a giftand i am collapsing.....

this past weekend at Lights On was quietonly a few people were releasedbut there were 2 people I got to spend a lot of time talking toone was a girl who spent a month in jail for missing a DUI meetingshe spent those 30 days thinking and getting her life in ordershe's from San Diego but she wants to come back to Santa Ana every weekend to give the girls in jail free color and cuts (she's a hair stylist) to make them feel pretty :)the kind of energy she gave off was so positive and wonderful...I am still smiling from it.when her ride picked her up, she even came back to give us foodanother guy stopped by the RV for some coffee, he was an older man who was released from jail a long time ago but lost everything while serving his time and has since been homeless.he talked about how both of his parents died while he was in prison and he couldn't do anything about ithis advice: if you have a mother, tell her you love her!!the more he spoke, the more my heart broke...he was was the sweetest man ever but he's been through so muchhe'd say things like i know it will get better. you guys are here with me tonight i'm so lucky!it goes both ways, we are so lucky to have each other

My strict-traditional-filipino parents have this paranoid notion that I spend my nights talking to men in internet chatrooms, which is RIDICULOUS -- I know, since I spend Saturday nights talking to guys outside the Santa Ana jailbecause...on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings, BTC partners up with Saint Vincent De Paul for the Lights On Project, which is a plain humble RV parked down the street from the jail, 11pm-4am almost every night of the year.People who've just been released can stop by to use a cellphone, grab a cup of coffee and some snacks or a cigarette, find a sweatshirt if its cold out, and wait for their rides to pick them up. Completely free.As a volunteer, it involves a lot of waiting.Sometimes no one is released until 2 or 3am.Last Saturday I brought my prep book thinking I might study during down time (applying for a masters in public service). We used the book to prop up a crock pot of soup so that the extension cord could reach the electrical outlet.Lesson #1: Application is better than theory.If only I could explain that when I mail in my GRE scores, you know?Anyhow, when people are finally released, it's probably not at all what you're probably thinking it should be.If you are in any way hesitant about volunteering at Lights On, you might be a little disappointed.Everyone is pretty normal.However, last Saturday we did meet someone from an obscure band who could maybe possibly be nominated for a grammy this year!You heard it here first.Other brilliant things I heard while sitting on that sidewalk..(While trying to convince a homeless woman to go to a shelter)Her response: Don't worry about me, I'm used to it. I like looking at the stars. I've been in jail for a long time, the last thing I want to do is stare at walls right now. I want to look at cute guys.Ha!then I spent most of the night bonding over a bowl of soup with a nice old man named Richard, reminiscing about all the different places we've been, and his sister who passed away a long time ago. By the end of the night Richard and I were both wiping our tears on crumpled napkins, and in the background I could hear Supun's voice asking people if they needed jackets.Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.If you're interested in voluteering, please email lightson@bethecause.org

You guys brighten up the world!By VergaceThank you for the food. You are good people.  Peace for lifeHi, it's just me again.  Cake & coffee are Chinese new year surprise to me. ~Pat H.Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.God is love.Life is the best of all.May peace and blessings rain down upon you for all your help and support and especially for the unconditional love which you are showing to us and the charities who all need this deeply.  May we all find the strength to love.Blessinz:May the universe bless those with pure heartz & saint like attitude you all  possess.Blessinz:  The FilmstressThe love for what you do is seen through your service.  Thanks for what was served tonight and good luck in the future.

Manuri asked me if I could write about my experience today. Before I do, I'd like to share a story.A long time ago, I was a temp data entry clerk.On my first day of work, for some odd reason I never introduced myself to my cubicle mates, a pair of middle-aged full time workers. One day became two, two became three, three days became four... the weeks passed and still we had never spoken to each other.When my workdays seemed so long and unbearable, I would listen in on their conversations and hope they might include me. I would think "maybe I should introduce myself now," but it always seemed too awkward. After all, we had been sitting next to each other for months, day in and day out, separated only by an inch of cardboard.How could we still be strangers after all that time?My temp contract ended after four months.I never introduced myself.I think about my cubicle mates from time to time. I wonder if they think about me, or if they even remember me. Probably not.I think about how long and lonely those four months were for me.I think about how different it could have been if I had only taken a second to say hello.Sometimes the simplest things seem so hard to do.Sometimes its the smallest, simplest things that make all the difference.On Jan 6, 2007, Manuri, Sonali, Supun, Kay, Ann, Gianna, and myself spent the afternoon at the corner of Forest and PCH in Laguna Beach, wearing t-shirts and holding up signs that read "FREE HUGS."Quite a few people walked by quickly without making eye contact with us. Some people politely replied "no thanks." And some people looked at us like we were crazy.Sonali said that maybe they think there's a catch. Free hugs? Why? Who are these people? What are they trying to sell? What do they want?Maybe if I wasn't the one wearing the shirt and holding the sign, who knows, maybe I would think that too.Even though some rejected our hugs, A LOT of people opened up their arms (and hearts) and let us in.I remember 1 little kid who said no at first, but later came back and gave Supun a big hug. He went to play in the sand but came back 5 minutes later for another hug. Then 5 minutes later he ran back to Supun and said "Another!!" He came back 5 or 6 times. It was the most beautiful thing.Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I drove to Laguna, wanting to dedicate my hugs to my cubicle mates, hugs I could have given but was too afraid to. Every time someone stopped to embrace me, my heart jumped out of my chest. Who is this person? You want to hug me? Me? Why?I didn't expect this to make me so happy. Even now my heart is still jumping. It's past 3am and I'm not tired at all.To all the people who smiled at me or gave me a hug, I know you will never see this, but thank you for making my day.