That is the current slogan for McDonalds. I remembered when McDonalds had a sign that used to read 50 million served, and then it kept going up and up. I think now they just say billions and billions served. So tonight I decided to add up how many lunches that have been served through free lunch, not quite in the same league as McDonalds, but 560 is not too shabby in my opinion.
In case you didn't know, I was McDonalds Employee of the month in September of 1993 at store #6003, located in Apple Valley, MN, one of the busiest locations in the Minneapolis area. That's not too shabby either. The store is located on the main road that goes through all the southern suburbs. When I got bored, I would sneak down to the utility room, open up the breaker panel, and turn the breaker for the big sign out front on and off for about a minute. People freaked out and didn't know what was going on, not even the managers. I just smiled and kept working hard....and no one ever knew....until now.
06 June, 2007
04 June, 2007
Values
This week my mom is in town, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about the values of free lunch. She went with us downtown to serve lunches on Saturday, and it was fun to have her along because she lives in Los Angeles, and we don't get a lot of time to hang out.
I always find it interesting that more girls volunteer than guys. In my observation, girls are so much better at getting involved and helping out. I don't understand why more guys don't join in, because the girls are cute, and a lot of my guy friends don't have girlfriends. It is a mystery to me...what better way to get to know a girl than to spend a few hours together on Saturday serving lunches??
I have been asked several times in the last few weeks if I would be interested in receiving food donations that aren't the standard free lunch menu items. Good food too...a friend of mine is a caterer, and she fixes food every weekend, always has leftovers, and she doesn't have a good place to take them. Another friend offered to take a grill downtown and put on a big bbq for people. These are good offers, and I have been a little conflicted about accepting them.
The vision of free lunch has evolved, or formed in to something that would resemble a city wide, or even regional charity organization that reaches invisible communities in the vicinity of a person that wishes to become involved. In order to accomplish that, I would like to develop a model that is so simple, that anyone can repeat it. The formula is simple, make a lunch menu, go to the store and buy it, go to wherever the people are at, and hang out.
Finding an invisible group of people is hard enough (because they are invisible), and each lunch has its own set of unpredictable events, so I think it is important to make as many parts of the process as planned and predictable (and efficient) as possible. I go to the grocery store at the same time, I even pack the cart the same way, we pack the lunches the same way, go to the same places at the same time in the same car. If someone wants to help out, and it doesn't fit in to the set of expectations that I operate under, I typically turn down the help. I feel bad, but as this little experiment is being built, it is important to stick to the values that hold it together. So here is what I see as the valuable parts of free lunch:
I always find it interesting that more girls volunteer than guys. In my observation, girls are so much better at getting involved and helping out. I don't understand why more guys don't join in, because the girls are cute, and a lot of my guy friends don't have girlfriends. It is a mystery to me...what better way to get to know a girl than to spend a few hours together on Saturday serving lunches??
I have been asked several times in the last few weeks if I would be interested in receiving food donations that aren't the standard free lunch menu items. Good food too...a friend of mine is a caterer, and she fixes food every weekend, always has leftovers, and she doesn't have a good place to take them. Another friend offered to take a grill downtown and put on a big bbq for people. These are good offers, and I have been a little conflicted about accepting them.
The vision of free lunch has evolved, or formed in to something that would resemble a city wide, or even regional charity organization that reaches invisible communities in the vicinity of a person that wishes to become involved. In order to accomplish that, I would like to develop a model that is so simple, that anyone can repeat it. The formula is simple, make a lunch menu, go to the store and buy it, go to wherever the people are at, and hang out.
Finding an invisible group of people is hard enough (because they are invisible), and each lunch has its own set of unpredictable events, so I think it is important to make as many parts of the process as planned and predictable (and efficient) as possible. I go to the grocery store at the same time, I even pack the cart the same way, we pack the lunches the same way, go to the same places at the same time in the same car. If someone wants to help out, and it doesn't fit in to the set of expectations that I operate under, I typically turn down the help. I feel bad, but as this little experiment is being built, it is important to stick to the values that hold it together. So here is what I see as the valuable parts of free lunch:
- Set very clear, and very low expectations of what I am willing to offer. Lunch and hanging out are two things that I know I can deliver on a consistent basis.
- Seeking out and connecting with invisible people is the fundamental purpose, and value.
- Sticking to a plan and model that can be duplicated is a value that will serve as the fundamental growth strategy.
That's about it. I try to keep it simple.
As I pulled up to the community center on the west side, one of the guys remembered my name, and that feels good. There were a bunch of people there, and I didn't see Alejandro. I will try to give an update if I hear from him again.
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