Well over half my lifetime ago, I spent some damn fine time doing man stuff with my brothers in the United States Marine Corp. My Vietnam era Drill Instructors and older brother added to the WWII and Korean experiences that my Dad had imparted on our family, which was almost its own branch of the military, and the Cold War was coming to an end. The military, while not completely irrelevant, was also not the main topic of conversation in an America largely at peace. When the tiny conflict of Grenada came rolling around, everyone I knew was looking for a way to get in on the action. It was a much different world, militarily, than what we live in today after a quarter century of continuous conflict. As a result, there were not a lot of organizations like Just Call Us Volunteers around to do what they do.
And, what Just Call Us Volunteers, almost an army in its own right, and founder, Chef Julie Darling, do and have done for the last 10 years is, well…noble. Every bit as noble as what the men and women of our military do, with far less fanfare, recognition and support, albeit with every bit as much satisfaction.
What exactly might that be? I’m so glad you asked. It’s a perfect topic for a beautiful Labor Day.
You can read more about it at the Just Call Us Volunteers website here, but this is a grass roots, non-profit organization begun by Julie in 2005. Starting off as a way to provide holiday dinners to the less fortunate and homeless in the San Diego area, over the last decade, Just Call Us Volunteers and Julie have expanded their operations, with the help of local vendors, purveyors, community leaders and oh, about a million or so San Diegans (give or take a few zeroes) to provide free meals twice monthly throughout the community as well as their on-going holiday meals. Starting in 2009, Just Call Us Volunteers also began providing meals and service to the Veteran’s Homeless Winter Shelter, Alpha Project and other community oriented non-profits such as Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center.
An operation like this needs a lot of help in the form of donations, supplies and food so that they can continue their work. Plus, they need to have a little fun, too.
Mission about to be accomplished – get ahead of the curve and order your tickets to what may be one of the most fulfilling, fun and “Wacky” events you’ll attend as summer surrenders to autumn, all while being able to say you’ve done your good deed for the month. Just Call Us Volunteers is hosting their 10th Anniversary Celebration and fundraiser, called the Wacky WingDing, September 17th from 4:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. at Francis Parker Middle School, 6501 Linda Vista Rd., San Diego. Find more information and get your tickets here or click on the flyer below.
Lookee here, folks. If you’ve never spent an afternoon and evening around food industry folks when they take their hair nets off and put on their party shoes, you’re not gonna want to miss this. I guarantee the cost of your donation and entry to the WingDing could not buy you better company or a better definition of what “Wacky” really means…you might want to start working out now and take a nap before you go. Cheers, my friends!
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