Friends & Family Bar-B-Q 2011
Saturday, August 13, Miller/Knox Park (Seagull Picnic Site), Richmond
It was a beautiful breezy day with blue skies at Point Richmond’s Miller/Knox Park on Saturday, August 13. The Canadian geese and the Mallard ducks were playing in the pond. The sparkling backdrop of San Pablo Bay and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge set the stage for a wonderful Friends & Family Bar-B-Q hosted by Saffron Strand, Inc. whose members are homeless adults from Richmond and other Contra Costa communities.
Friends and families from all over West County enjoyed the food, fun, and sun at the Bar-B-Q which was a Saffron Strand member project from conception to implementation. By organizing the community get-together and picnic, Saffron Strand members demonstrated how the non-profit membership organization builds real-life work skills to improve the employability of the homeless and help get them back to work.
Saffron Strand member and event coordinator Tiffany Scott took the lead in planning, organizing, and marketing the event. At the Seagull picnic site, new board member Rodrigo Sicilia and volunteers manned the grills, cooking up beef burgers, soy burgers, hotdogs, and chicken wings. The hamburgers and wings were a big hit, especially when slathered with Chi’s secret recipe BBQ sauce, which was created by a Saffron Strand volunteer. Six folding tables, stretching nearly 40 feet featured a huge array of home-made side dishes, including green salads, potato salads, pasta salads, fruit, and veggies, including Iyalode Kinney's delicious tree collard greens.
Richmond merchants donated much of the raw food which Saffron Strand members prepared for the picnic. Their “generosity in kind” provided help to Contra Costa’s homeless and support for Saffron Strand’s unique approach to reducing homelessness and poverty and improving the economies of Contra Costa communities.
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors!
Pikanha (Brazilian Steak House)
Richmond Beverage Plant
Food Co, Richmond
Taqueria La Estrella
Target, Pinole
Safeway, Richmond
4th Street Market
Kinder’s Meats & Deli, Hercules
Bear Claw, Pinole
La Farine Bakery, Berkeley
Bayview Market, Richmond
Bonfare, Richmond #13
Up and Under Bar and Grill
Spot Liquor Store
Santa Fe Market
Point Richmond Market
Ebony Jackson
Tiffany Scott
Diane Marie
Iyalode Kinney
Yvonne Nair
Chysandra Nair
Chris & Lea Hundley
The kids had a great time at old-time picnic games like the egg-and-spoon race, three-legged race, and water balloon toss. One parent remarked, “I don’t see my kids laugh like that at computer games!” Margaret Jordan and Eduardo Martinez, members of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, helped organize the games. Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and her spouse, Paul Kilkenny, came to enjoy the fun.
The Friends & Family Bar-B-Q shows Saffron Strand members’ determination to overcome the trauma and stigma of homelessness through their individual and collaborative good work. Some Saffron Strand members are studying to qualify for jobs in the food service industry. Other members are helping their colleagues in the spirit of Saffron Strand’s intentional community which builds team work and pride as well as individual skills and personal dignity.
The homeless adults who organized the Bar-B-Q are committed to working their way out of homelessness. Proceeds from their event support Saffron Strand programming, including food handling classes and other job training to benefit the homeless who want to work in Richmond and other Contra Costa communities.
“And they’re off!” Contenders in the sack race hopped across the field at Knox/Miller Park. Eduardo Martinez officiated at the finish line. Winners received blue ribbons.
Saffron Strand members and volunteers joined in grilling chicken wings, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob, and other old-fashioned picnic fare.
Face painting was a big hit at the Bar-B-Q. Adults indulged, too, but were too shy to pose.
Other old-time picnic events included the 3-Leg Race, officiated by Margaret Jordan, and the Egg & Spoon Race.
To download the flyer for this event, click here.
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