Young Chefs

Now that the holidays are over our young chefs program is in full swing again. Every Friday, the youth from Tyler Square and the Family Shelter gather together at the Family Shelter kitchen to mash, cut, dice, fry, beat, measure, and of course eat a meal that they prepared. Before the New Year, our rhyme and reason to young chefs was to experience food from the past. We had Indian fry bread, Settler’s food, and tried to use food that was in season as many had to in the past because it was the only food available. One of the favorites from last year was an apple cobbler. We had some great volunteers from the University of Washington Tacoma to help us out and the mascot even decided chip in, although the mascot definitely ate more than its share. This semester we’ve changed courses and will be trying foods from different cultures. We decided that this will open up some more opportunities to explore the endless possibilities of food. This past Friday we made coco rice and egg rolls. The kids did everything from cooking the beef to rolling the egg rolls to loading the dish washer. Some of the older kids were great for taking on the difficult role of frying the egg rolls. It was a messy job as the kitchen was already really hot on top of the steaming peanut oil. Many of the kids also took advantage of the crosswords and computer games available in-between jobs. It was a great team effort to pull all the components together for the meal. Time wasn’t really on our side as we started out, but as usual, we still had a little time to enjoy the fruits of our labor before everyone had to go. I had four egg rolls myself and way too much rice. In fact, we made so much food that we were able to share it for dinner with everyone from the Family Shelter.

It has been fun getting back into the groove of the Afterschool Program here at Tyler Square after the long holiday break! We are back to meeting during our scheduled times, 4:00 to 6:00 Monday through Friday. This past Friday from 4:00 to 6:00, we had our weekly Young Chefs event held at the Family Shelter on 15th and Tacoma Ave. We had so many kids attend, and we had a lot of chaotic and messy fun making some Asian foods. We made eggrolls and chocolate rice, the recipes of which we were able to get from one of the mothers of some of the children who are in our program. She is a GREAT cook, and the recipes she offered us were Guamanian, inspired by her own ethnic background. The kids had a blast cooking all of the food, and I think they feel good to be trusted with cutting and cooking and mixing--but there is always good supervision. :) A lot of the kids wanted to wear aprons and chefs jackets, and they got excited even to just pour ingredients into a bowl or to wait for water to boil. They really do enjoy learning these life lessons that empower them to know how to lead healthy lives. The knowledge they receive and these helpful know-how skills build their confidence and shows them just how capable they really are! And we were lucky to have some of the kids who belong to the mother who donated the recipes. They knew from firsthand experience how to cook these foods, and so they knew so much more than I did because I had never cooked these types of foods before. It reminded me about how much of my role as a leader is to be a learner. I often can get caught up in being the teacher, but I was thankful to be reminded about how much I can learn, especially from children. They have so much to offer, and my relationships with the children work as a two-way street: we both learn and grow from one another and we both have those things that we can teach. I hope our volunteers feel the same way. They give us such a great gift in offering their time and their dedication, but I think (I hope) they get something out of it too. I think volunteering with the children here can teach you a lot. The children get much out of it, but the volunteers do too. We all have a lot to learn from one another!

Snowshoeing, frozen toes, & Icy roads

A multitude of TRM teens embarked on a snowshoe trip that proved too difficult last week when attempting to reach a cabin near Mt. Rainier.




The original plan was to drive up to the trailhead, snowshoe roughly 4 miles to the cabin, relax, spend the nite, and hike back to the trailhead the next day and return safely to Tacoma. This original plan quickly changed when the impassable icy road proved unsafe. So, we decided to play it safe. This tacked on an extra 3 miles of hiking before even getting to the trailhead! So after a chilly 3 miles, we did what any group would do, we took a vote. I'll be honest, up to this point the hiking was slow, people's toes were frozen, and pants soaked through. The duffle bags, sleds, and sleeping bags were a disheveled mess dragging behind many of the youth. The result of the vote was to eventually turn around and go back to the van. Back to warm up and head home to the safe refuge of Tacoma. Although the plans changed, the kids took it in stride and maintained a positive attitude throughout it all!

A Servant's Heart

This past Monday, the Tacoma Rescue Mission held a graduation at Life Center Church for those who have completed the New Life Program and Family Life Program. It was a very exciting and inspiring event that not only allowed us to celebrate the accomplishments of those who have worked hard to transform their lives through these programs, but it also allowed us and the youth the opportunity to lend a helping hand and serve others. The teen leadership group, which typically meets every Monday night from 6 to 8 pm, attended the graduation this past week as servants. They dressed their best, and they represented the Tacoma Rescue Mission very well by holding open doors, greeting people as they walked in, and serving food during the reception that proceeded after the ceremony. And it wasn't easy! It was a challenge for the youth to serve the food--the line was long, with the end nowhere in sight, and the youth were hungry. It was tough for me too. It was my dinnertime, but I had to wait alongside the kids to eat only after everyone else, about 300 other people, ate first. I was impressed with them, though. They handed out food and filled everyone else's plates before serving themselves. They did an awesome job!
I hope that, through experiences like these, the teens are challenged and are given an opportunity to grow. Hopefully, from this sort of perspective, the youth can have a deeper appreciation for all of the help we get everyday at Tyler Square from our generous volunteers. It's not so easy to give your time away so freely, and we at the Youth Department are so blessed with a constant influx of volunteers.
Ultimately, I pray that we use Monday nights to coordinate a group of teens who come to understand leadership as a means of getting along with people instead of understanding leadership as how much power one has over other people, as Mohandas Gandhi once said. So it is our goal here to define leadership as an act of serving rather than dictating. And through this, the teens can be encouraged to go out and give back to their community in a positive way, in a way that is similar to how our volunteers give to us.

SuperClub at Tyler Square!

The moment Superclub catapulted into our community with carnival games, pizza, and tons of kids it has taken off here at Tyler Square. We are grateful to have the partnership with the Superclub family that comes every week and contributes life to our thriving community! Check out these videos of our kids having fun at SuperClub:

UPCOMING VOLUNTEER EVENTS...

Hi to all past, current, & present volunteers!
We work with kids that are hurting, have been homeless, and need help...
We could not serve the kids we serve without the help of faithful volunteers like you!
"without sacrifice, love is not complete", so I want to thank every volunteer who sacrifices greatly to love our kids!
We have 2 upcoming volunteer events that you should know about.
They are:
1) Tyler Square and New Life Square Graduation. Monday December 7th @ 7pm at Life Center Church. Come see families, men, & women whose lives have been transformed!
2) Volunteer Training/Orientation. Tuesday December 15th @6pm at Family Shelter (609 S 15th, Tacoma, WA 98405. A chance for volunteers to come, learn, and tell their story about volunteering!

Mission Trip Silent Auction!

As you've read below, the Tacoma Rescue Mission Youth are going on a mission trip to build a house in Mexico over spring break. We're all very excited about the trip and have been working hard to put our team together. We had our first training for the trip last Thursday and received our information binders filled with packing lists, documentation materials, requirements, safety tips, parent info, a few Spanish lessons, and much more. The students had many questions as the anticipation of the trip keeps growing. We learned that we will be staying in tents, are not allowed to use powertools to construct the house, and will have to survive the week without cells phones. There will continue to be many more trainings as our trip approaches. At the next meeting, each student will be presenting their research of a Mexican holiday to help us learn about the culture.

One event we will be discussing in the upcoming meetings is our silent auction on Feburary 5th. All of the proceeds from the silent auction will go towards the mission trip. Not only are the youth staff and students going on the trip working hard, but many volunteers are putting in a lot of time into planning this event. The silent auction will also have a live auction, raffles, live music provided by Urban Orchestra, and dinner! Check out the Facebook event for the auction on the Tacoma Rescue Mission Youth Program profile's wall posts. It's going to be tons of fun and we want to invite you to partner with us to make this event a success and helping to send us on our mission trip.

Currently, we are seeking donations for the event. If you have any items to donate or would like to help out with the auction please do! We need your ideas, talents, and heart. Maybe you could put together a theme basket for the event. A rainy day basket filled with movies, hot chocolate, and banana bread would be a fun basket for sure. Or what about a best friend basket with golf passes, a resturant gift certificate, and tickets to a ball game. Putting a theme basket together can be fun and use your creativity. Furthermore, we want you to attend the event. Tickets are $20 which include dinner for the event starting at 5:30 on Friday Feburary 5th. Please contact Kyle at kyles@trm.org for more information.