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POTS’ Mission Statement challenges
us to be a loving community in the Bronx that nourishes
the basic needs and hungers of all who come to our door.
It just so happens that we offer a feeding program to facilitate
that mission. Community Service Team members, too, are
challenged to see beyond the nutritious meal they prepare,
place in front of someone, and ready the table for, yet,
another hungry person.
Community is built through understanding and appreciation
for each of its individuals. Human beings understand and
appreciate each other through sincere connections: eye
contact, a handshake, a pat on the back, or, most fulfilling,
conversation.
This is the essence of Community Service
at POTS. POTS is an experience. We invite you drop
in. The meals are great!
POTS is dependent on
12 volunteers a day in the Community Kitchen lone (six
for lunch and six for dinner).
 Youth Services Opportunities Program refers approximately
2 teams of 6 every week from around the country offering
3,000 hours a year.
Local High Schools (public and private) refers approximately
10 individuals a month offering 960 hours a year.
Institutes of Higher Education refer approximately
35 individuals a month offering 1,600 hours.
Resurrection Parish (Rye, New York) coordinates
and serves the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.
Holy Rosary Parish (Bronx) and Our Lady, Star of
the Sea (City Island) cook lunch for our guests each
month.
Visitation Parish (Bronx) conducts Household Supplies
and toiletry drives every month.
Mosque Masjid Hefaz (Bronx) and Congregation Tehilah (Riverdale) have Social Justice teams serving at POTS.
Colleges and Universities from throughout the United States
and Canada visit POTS during school breaks bringing up to
14 students for a week long stay: Stanford University, Gannon
University, DePaul University,
Tuft’s University, Franciscan University, Drexel University, Grand Valley State, University of Illinois,
Baldwin Wallace University, University of South Florida,
Simon’s Rock College, Fordham University and Manhattan
College have served with us in the past.
POTS is registered with the local Judicial System. Approximately
12 individuals participate in the program annually offering
up to 1000 hours.
Approximately 25 individuals found POTS through on-line services
offering 1000 hours.
Approximately 5% of POTS donor base offers community service
hours: ~1000 hours.
CitiGroup, Sedexho, Communication Workers of America, Verizon,
and VIBE Magazine offer their employees and members incentives
to work at POTS: ~900 hours.
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Part of the Solution Volunteer Guidelines
As a volunteer, you play a crucial role in actualizing POTS' mission.
THE TASKS
Creating a dignified setting for our guests implies giving them the same treatment we’d desire when we eat somewhere other than our homes. This means that you will be fulfilling all of the roles of the wait staff at a restaurant. Here is a more specific list of what those roles entail at POTS:
You will greet each guest as they come to the door, and find out how many are in each party. You’ll then direct the guests to an empty space at one of the six tables and notify the waiters and kitchen of the number and location of guests awaiting meals. You will also record basic the demographic data of each guest.
You will work in the kitchen with our chef, dishing out food from our steam table so that each guest receives a piping-hot meal. You will also prepare meals for take-outs, given to those of our guests with loved ones at home who are not able to come to the dining room to be with us.
You will take the plates from the plate-maker to guests. As you place the food in front of the guests, you have the opportunity to encounter each of them, and we encourage you to smile and interact with guests to build community.
You will take each guest a cup of juice as they sit. You have the same opportunity for interaction as the plate-bringer, so we encourage the same outgoing attitude. You will be responsible for keeping the cups filled in readiness and for making sure the juice jugs are well stocked and cooled.
You will clean the table and chair after each guest leaves, placing a fresh napkin-and-fork place setting on the table. If a table becomes completely empty during the course of the meal, you may be asked to sweep under it. You will have to be a bit more intentional in your efforts to reach out to our guests.
You will spray down the dirty plates and load them into a dishwasher. This is perhaps one of the most behind-the-scenes jobs, but you still have the chance to interact with guests as they hand you their plates. You may want to ask guests how the food was and invite them to come back again.
The Community: Creating and Maintaining Bonds
Coming to experience POTS as a community challenges all who attempt to do so, whether they are volunteers, guests or staff. When we think of the word “community” most of us no doubt think of a group of people who live in a specific geographic space. Another definition suggests that a community is any group of people who come together at any time for one specific purpose. At POTS, we believe that our community is a place where anyone can come and feel welcome. Community is created when we see and respond to each other with respect, dignity, and appreciation of the humanity of our neighbor. Community is challenging and powerful, and POTS Community Kitchen is an opportunity where we all (whether we serve or are served) can experience community ~ if we allow ourselves that privilege.
 The following exercises can help you get past some of the outward differences and getting down to the place where we’re all human. Once you’re in that place, you’ll be able to use your own experience with your own personal success and disappointments to comfort others and rejoice with them.
First, let’s look at the idea of “Success.” Take some time to answer these questions: How do I define Success? Am I Successful? Who tells me whether or not I’m successful?
POTS was blessed with a volunteer who came each day and made our pantry program work like clockwork. When asked in conversation about his reasons for working so hard for no pay, he said “When I was homeless, POTS was there for me, so I want to give back.” The conversation went on and the volunteer divulged that he was actually living in a certain tree in a nearby park. Immediately, the POTS staff bent over backwards to try to get him all the benefits he qualified for, including some sort of stable housing. Yet when it came time for our volunteer to sign leases and forms and such, he was nowhere to be seen. He believed he had successfully overcome his problem of “homelessness” – he referred to it in the past. And yet we, in our judgmental way, immediately tried to tell him he wasn’t successful in overcoming his problem. He responded by leaving our community. He was successful. We told him by our “actions of charity” that he was not. We imposed our definition of success on him.
In your own life, there are times you consider yourself to be successful when others don’t. Perhaps the decision you made to dedicate your expendable free-time with us is an example. Do you think it’s a successful use of your free time from school? Would some of your classmates agree? How about your parents? Your teachers? Who told you this was a good idea? Who told you it wasn’t? We’ve probably all had these sorts of disagreements, and we too have probably been tempted to leave the nay Sayers behind. This is one experience you have in common with POTS’ guests.
A second idea to examine is Stereotyping. In the story above, I mentioned judgmental thinking and conclusions that, in the end, dissolved one of the bonds of our community. Putting people into one-dimensional character roles is the first step towards breaking up a community – indeed, doing so is the very opposite of being a community. Take some time to think and talk about the stereotypes associated with people who visit soup kitchens. What do they look like? What do they smell like? How will they act around you? What are their concerns? Their desires? Their attitudes and beliefs? What are their flaws? Think about the stereotypes you might have of people who work in soup kitchens, including the author of this packet. What will they be like? What will you have in common with them? What will be very different?
These resources are meant as a suggestion to find a beneficial frame of mind. Use them, or, if they only lead to frustration and aggravation, toss them to the wind. Back to top
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The Plate-Maker 
The Juicer
The Washer