St. Martin's Catholic Worker House

The day has arrived where the Food Justice Catalyst group has to say adios to San Francisco. The night before we split into 2 groups, 6 were assigned to St. Martin’s and 6 were assigned to St. Gregory’s. We (Anna, Linda, Michael, Addie, Harry and Susun) ventured off to St. Martin’s at 8:30 ready for a day of serving. Little did we know how memorable this experience would be to our entire trip. Once we arrived at St. Martin’s, we were quickly put to work with prepping today’s lunch. It was apparent how much the volunteers at St. Martin’s cared for the community members they served since there was a great deal of focus on details such as lettuce size. In the midst of the preparation fun, there was a minor knife accident with Anna. While chopping lettuce leaves, Anna accidently ran the knife through her left thumbnail. She was a trooper and was back to work within half an hour. There was time to mingle and rest before serving lunch so we had an opportunity to tour the courtyard area and mingle. While in the courtyard area watching the pigeons fight over a piece of bread, we met a man named Adam. We enjoyed the lively conversation with Adam regarding his younger years when he used to play college hockey as well as other personal narratives.

Lunch was fast pace and everyone found some way to occupy their time. Overall, we had an amazing time at St. Martin’s and it was mostly due to the sincerity and community that was prevalent. Other volunteers remembered our name. After serving lunch and cleaning the courtyard along with the kitchen we met up with our good friend Kevin for the last time before heading back to Minnesota. Along with the many influential words we keep in our hearts and minds from Kevin, we were lucky to get the chance to keep an artifact from his beautiful exhibit also.

Nearing to the end of the day we come back to the hostel for one last refection with the group, remembering this week, remembering what we gave, and remembering what we received. Ending the last night in town we head on over to Fisherman’s Wharf to enjoy a delicious dinner at a Seafood Restaurant and completing it with a late night stroll.