Hunger: to most of us, it's just a word. We go to holiday parties where tables overflow with cookies and cheese--delights we little need. We've already eaten too much to fit in our pants. Not many of us know what it's like to be truly hungry, to be a kid and not get breakfast before school, to choose between a beer and a slice of pizza. Some of us live in Detroit neighborhoods where the nearest grocery store is the corner Beer Mart. The freshest thing on the shelf is a pack of smokes. The
protein is fried and frozen, the expiration dates have come and gone. Veggies? Forget about it. If you don't have a car, your access to groceries in the nation's second-poorest big city are scant. Many of us have kids. The thought of them going hungry for even a couple of hours gives us the shakes. Kids + Hungry = Crazy. So much for holiday cheer. But that's where Capuchin Soup Kitchen & Earthworks steps in. If we've got a couple extra bucks for a six pack tonight or that extra toy that Johnny may not even play with tomorrow, we can put a few aside for these very good-willed eastside Detroiters. That's why we've decided to donate proceeds from this exultant Christmas Family Hootenanny CD to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. It is Christmas, after all. The Capuchin friars, who trace their roots to St. Francis of Assisi in 13th Century Italy, began a Detroit ministry on Mt. Elliott Street in 1883 with a mission to live and work among the poor. The soup kitchen serves 2,000 meals a day. I visited one fall afternoon and despite the crisp, cool air, was nearly knocked to the ground from the odor of human suffering. The Capuchins not only provide food, but a place to shower. The city's neediest go there. The Earthworks element, launched by Brother Rick Samyn, provides a beautiful addition: a tiny but rich urban farm. Neighborhood kids work at the garden, helping to provide veggies and herbs to food stamp centers and the Capuchin's soup kitchen. Unfortunately, these being desperate times, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen recently had their cooling system stripped of copper. We're rockers. We love kids. We love nutrition (how else to feel gorgeous?). We kill for a fresh tomato. Living in our beloved city of empty plates around the dinner table, we want to give some love this year. Food is love. Rock is love. Rock is food. Eat well. Give. Be merry.
--Lisa M. Collins
