The Lunch Bunch

Grab Bags & Purchasing Info

2011-09-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

We will have 15 grab bags available on a first come first serve basis for purchase! We mixed in a bunch of original drawings, doodles, prints, and other fun stuff into the bags! Will you get a lucky bag?? They will be $25 each! These will be sold at the bar and will be CASH ONLY.

The three of us also collaborated on a few drawings, a secret message book, and polaroids while we stuffed the bags and mixed them in with the rest of the items!

Purchasing Artwork from the show:

The donated art in the show will also be sold only at the opening CASH AND CARRY style. Cash is preferred but we will also be able to accept paypal. You will not be able to take the artwork home until it is paid for. Unsold work will then be auctioned off on ebay afterwards. There will be no preview. If you're not in Los Angeles, send in a friend!

Please be understanding of our decision to make the artwork only available at the show. This will save Lunch Bunch on shipping costs and auction fees from ebay and paypal and maximize the amount of donation money that will go to feeding the homeless.

We hope to see everyone on Saturday! We will be serving food, drinks, a good time!

Lunch Bunch Fundraiser Art Show! Sept. 3rd 7-10pm

2011-08-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Print donated by Joe Sorren

Come join Lunch Bunch this Saturday to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and help us raise money for food for the homeless of Los Angeles!

WWA Gallery in Culver City has kindly offered to host our event for the night.

We will be displaying and selling artwork generously donated by many of our amazing artist friends and supporters!

You will get a chance to try a sampling of the food we make and serve weekly to the homeless.

100% of all donations received will go to the people of Los Angeles in need of food, clothing, toiletries and other essentials.

Learn more about Lunch Bunch at our website:www.lunchbunchco.blogspot.com

Participating artists:
Chet Zar
Aimee Keuster
Vort
Maria Gerdwilker
Joe Sorren
Eric White
Emma Geary
Nicole Bruckman
Kelly Vivanco
Rebecca Murphy
Angela Ellefson
Christine Blu Ashton
Prunelle
Luis Tinoco
Danni Shinya Luo
Kwan-Yu LAM
Ella Woolner
Kristian von Hornsleuth
Alejandra Lunik
Jana Guerrero Lara
Kim Gordon
Aunia Kaun
Melody Llewellyn
Bonnie Durham
Stephanie Markley
Daniel Gaeng
Joel Nakamura
and more!

Come hang out and enjoy some drinks!

WWA Gallery
7-10pm
9517 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA

Giant Sandwiches & Home-baked cookies for tonight!

2011-05-24T00:50:00.000-07:00

Ham sandwich

Turkey sandwich

24 sandwiches

Peanut butter cookies

True Love cookies

Lunch Bunch Art Fundraiser - Call for Entries

2011-05-17T18:14:00.000-07:00
Dearest artists, collectors, and Lunch Bunch supporters,

Lunch Bunch is nearing it's 2-year anniversary and we are planning a awesome fundraiser party and art show/auction to raise money for Lunch Bunch's third year.

The kind folks at WWA Gallery are allowing us to use their space for our party and we need your help once again!

How you can help:

-Donate Art!

This year we are asking artists to donate a small piece of artwork (12 x 12 inches or smaller) ready to hang for the annual art show. The show date will most likely be in August.

Deadline for art donations is July 25th.

We are accepting drawings, paintings, sculptures, and prints.

In the past 2 art auctions, we have had generous donations from both artists and collectors. We've auctioned amazing pieces of art from: Chet Zar, Tim Biskup, Amy Sol, Lily Piri, Glenn Barr, Amanda Visell, Jeremiah Ketner, Jeremy Berkley, Shannon Bonatakis, Liz McGrath and Morgan Slade, Frank Stockton, Fang Ling Lee, Peter Chan, Scott Musgrove, Nouar, Scott Belcastro, Estela Hyde, Gary Baseman, Dominique Fung, Daniel Elson, Aimee Kuester, Natalie Shau, Jenna Colby, John Zaso, N.C. Winters, Jeannie Lynn Paske, Scott Saw, Christopher Umana, Obey Studio, and many more! Each year we have raised around $3000 which allows us to make food for the homeless every sunday for up to one year!!

-Donate to Grab Bags!

We want to make grab bags to sell at the party. If you can't donate a piece for the show but have any old postcards, doodles, stickers, etc that you'd like to donate for the grab bags, please send them over!

***100% of the money raised will go directly to making food for the homeless. All meals will be hand delivered every Sunday by Mere and I with the occasional help from our volunteer friends!

Send an email to us for the shipping address if you'd like to donate a piece. Lunchbunchco@gmail.com

Donated by Gary Baseman

Artwork donated by Amy Sol

Lunch Bunch on Monday Night

2011-05-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Mere cuts up the roast beef and turkey sandwiches. Some people got a piece of both.

Ana and Mariah bag up the fruits and snacks.

The contents of the bags this week. We keep the water separately in the car so we don't crush the food.

On the road in Hollywood.

Next week we will make chili if its cold, or serve ice cream if its hot!

Lunch Bunch Dinner!

2011-05-07T13:48:00.000-07:00
We now also have.............(drum roll)...........Lunch Bunch stickers!! Look for them around Los Angeles.

Since Mere and I are busy with our mothers this weekend, we did lunch bunch a couple days early on a Friday night. We served delicious turkey or roast beef sandwiches and snacks.

Help Lunch Bunch!

2011-04-26T00:25:00.000-07:00
As we near our 2 year anniversary, we are planning the annual Lunch Bunch Art Auction and a special fundraiser party!

In the meantime, Lunch Bunch needs your help. We have come up with an easy way to take part in our weekly trips. You can "Buy" 10 meals for just $20 and we will prepare and hand out the meals for you! To purchase, click the "Buy" button in the How You Can Help section. ------>

Your $20 will make 10 of these meals:

Thank you for all of your help and support the past 2 years!

Lunch Bunch Easter Edition

2011-04-25T23:08:00.000-07:00
Our friend David came along with us today for the Easter edition of Lunch Bunch. We made special meals with Easter goodies like colored eggs, and delicious home-made brownies donated by Mere's Lovely Mom. A big thank you to David and Mere's Lovely Mom!

Colored hard-boiled eggs.

Ripe bananas from Smart and Final.

David and Mere.

24 ham sandwiches!

Yum!

Candy-filled plastic eggs.

David filling the bags.

The contents of the bags.

Mere leaving a bag for one of our regulars.

We have a new tomato for out blog! If you'd like to support/share our blog, feel free to post this banner everywhere!

Happy Easter from Lunch Bunch!

Lunch Bunch Dinner!

2011-04-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

This week we decided to buy pre-made sandwiches from Ralphs because we started in the evening. We discovered these large sandwiches cost the same as the burger sandwiches we normally make and since they are so big, we can cut them in half to make two meals. Its nice to occasionally offer a variety of flavors to our friends!

Water!

Picking out ripe bananas!

Found some.

We have no agenda.

Delicious french bread.

Sandy Witch.

24 Sandy Witches!

The entire contents of the meals. Not pictured is the water which we keep in the car and hand out separately so they don't squish the sandwiches.

Hitting the road!

Some shots of the streets we visit each week.

Lunch bunch time!

2011-02-13T15:40:00.001-08:00

Lunch Bunch Live on Sundays

2010-09-18T16:55:00.001-07:00
Lunch Bunch will be broadcasting live tomorrow at 3pm (the food preparation part.) Bookmark our page! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lunch-bunch-live

Blankets & Erick

2010-09-17T10:01:00.000-07:00
This week our dear friend, Erick, helped us make 48 meals! Then Ally surprised us with a big donation of blankets!! We passed them out to our regulars first, then had some more left over for new people. It was a cold night, and very much appreciated. Thank you so much, Ally and Eric!

Erick and Mere bagging our groceries because some people like to crush our bread and bananas.

Ally and mere with our new blankies.

Some really cool shades.

Very efficient.

Fashionable hat.

We included special treats like ginger snap cookies, trail mix, nuts, and wafers.

We did both grapes and bananas this time.

Skid Row.

Clothing Donations!

2010-08-29T19:43:00.000-07:00
After a few weeks of fundraising, Lunch Bunch was back in action today! We made our usual delicious sandwiches, fruit, snack, and water lunch bags. Not only were we able to give away food, but we had a very generous donation of clothing this week!

The lovely and amazing Ally Takeuchi who along with her sister Terri Benedict & The Joyful Foundation donated new high-end clothing. We gave out warm sweatshirts and clean new t-shirts, which were very happily received on this chilly night.

Aside from aiding in clothing donations, The Joyful Foundation creates quality handmade blankets as a gift of comfort and warmth to individuals in their time of illness or hardship. Find out more about the Joyful Foundation by visiting their website: http://www.joyfulfoundation.org/

Here is how our day went:

Mere laid out the bread meat and cheese while I cut up the veggies.

Adding the fresh ingredients to the sandwiches.

Mere surprised at just how fresh and delicious this tomato was.

Assembling the rest of the food and napkins.

The contents of the lunch bags.

Mere and I pretending someone is photographing us.

Onto the clothing!

Sorting the clothing by size for easy delivery.

So many clean & thick sweatshirts!!

Handing out the goods directly to our regulars. They were so happy to receive new clothes!

Passing out more clothes!

We'd like to send a big Thank You to Ally, Terri, and the Joyful Foundation for making tonight special trip for us and for the people that have warm, clean clothing to wear tonight! Your generosity is truly appreciated!

An Interview with Lunch Bunch

2010-08-29T12:54:00.000-07:00
Clair Williams of the Dreams are Necessary blog asked Mere and I to answer some questions about Lunch Bunch. Check out the interview and Claire's blog here: http://dreamsarenecessary.blogspot.com/2010/08/lunch-bunch.html

Photo Credit: Ara Devejian

Lunch Bunch Ebay Auction #2

2010-06-29T22:28:00.000-07:00
Check out the Art we are trying to auction off at our 2nd Lunch Bunch Ebay Auction! Click here to visit the auction:

Vote Print donated by Obey Studio.

We are trying to raise money to become registered, make nutritious lunches and get toiletries!
Thank you for your bids!!

**Update** The auction is now over. We raised over $3000 for Lunch Bunch! Thank you to all the artists, collectors, and bidders for making it a huge success!

Blueberry Surprise

2010-06-29T01:38:00.000-07:00
This week Ana and I decided to add a sweet, easy to eat, little fruit to the lunches!

A lot of the people we see weekly have little or no teeth. We try to give soft things in the lunches, but also delicious items! I think Blueberries were defiantly the way to go!

Ana prepped the sandwiches.

We also included apples in some lunches, for those who can eat them.

Lunch Bunchers: Dan & Robin

2010-06-29T00:33:00.000-07:00
Lunch Bunch would like to thank Dan and Robin for their amazing volunteer job! Not only did these gentleman purchase 24 lunches, they assembled them and handed them out as well! Thank you for a wonderful experience and for your generous support.

Robin and Dan are artists from Texas and our friends, they were in town for a show at the WWA Gallery (WWA sponsored a collaborative painting for us to auction). They had planned to stay the weekend so that they could help us out with Lunch Bunch.

The day started out great, we all met at Ana's then headed to Smart and Finals for the groceries.

We stocked up on fruit, veggies and sandwich materials.

Robin and Dan kept a keen eye out for sales and other items we may forget.

This week we were able to make 48 lunches, thanks guys!

Dan and Robin set up the buns while Ana and I took care of the produce.

This week the sandwiches seems extra delicious!

We packed our things and headed to Hollywood then Downtown.

Both Dan and Robin did a great job getting the food out quickly!

We weren't sure what exactly our volunteers were expecting to see, but we did want to show them the extent of the situation.

There are just so many people that need help and so many people condensed in this area.

Ana and I try to find people who are further from the shelter and in small groups. The first reason is so that not too many people come at once, secondly some people might not be capable of walking all the way to a shelter.

Thank you Dan and Robin for a great experience, your hard work fed 48 people!!

Combined Weeks

2010-06-11T02:29:00.000-07:00
Hello fellow Lunch Bunchers,
I am sorry I haven't posted new and exciting blogs from our weekly experiences. This blog is a combined experience from a couple of weeks.

We start off by making the delicious sandwiches. We are trying out different onion options versus no onions at all. Ana and I will be asking our regulars this week which do they prefer. Digestion and taste preference are very important to us.

We have also been making combo meat (ham and turkey) sandwiches, it is just more flavorful and a nice bit of change!

Going through downtown, seeing people living on the streets has become routine for Ana and myself, but it never gets familiar or easy. Every time we venture out it is heartbreaking. We see so many people with out something as necessary as food let alone shelter or warm clothes.

Seeing the struggle, the hurt and risks homeless people face everyday makes our fight for Lunch Bunch that much stronger. Seeing first hand the people we are working to help and the positive change in the people we are meeting doesn't just make Lunch Bunch meaningful- it makes it essential.

Ana and I both know that our reason for Lunch Bunch is to change the homeless situation in Los Angeles. We are trying to send out weekly waves of positive everything! There is so much to be done and we need to count on others to help us along the way.

Each week little by little we (you, me, us) are making a difference for the better in an apathetic community.

Lunch Bunch / Industrial Squid Photo Blog

2010-06-11T02:02:00.000-07:00
Again, thank you so much to David for helping with Lunch Bunch! It was a great experience working with you and we hope to have you come out with us again. Also thank you for the amazing blog you posted!!

Here are some pictures from the Day with David.

First things first, we must mustard the bread!

Slice and dicing while the sandwiches are being constructed.

Ana washed and bagged fresh strawberries.

Team work!

Thank you from Lunch Bunch!!

Lunch Bunch with Industrial Squid

2010-06-07T03:35:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, David Radford from Industrial Squid came by to drop off the amazing painting from the Trappings group show that has generously been donated to the Lunch Bunch auction. He hung out with us for the day to help out Lunch Bunch and wrote up a very awesome article about his experience with us. It was so much fun having him along! Thank you for everything, David!

Please check out his article and the Industrial Squid blog here: http://industrialsquid.blogspot.com/2010/05/lunch-bunch.html

A special 'thank you' to the artists that worked on the Trappings live painting! We are so thrilled to include it in our auction. You can find bigger pictures and more info on the painting on David's blog.

Week 43

2010-06-06T22:44:00.000-07:00
We are prepping for the next Lunch Bunch Art auction in the upcoming weeks. Thank you to everyone that has donated artwork to us! You guys have been so generous, Lunch Bunch would not be able to survive without your help! We will announce the exact date of the auction as soon as we have the artwork sorted and scanned. We have some great stuff coming up!!

Today, Ara helped me with the grocery shopping and cutting of the veggies while Mere layered the buns with meats and cheeses. I will leave you with a few pictures for now! Stay tuned for some previews of the work from the auction!

Ara cutting veggies!

Mere laying out the buns.

Baggies of food!

Ok, ok, here is a sneak peek of Lily Piri's two donations! They are both originals! Thank you, Lily!

Week 41: A-RA feat. J. Breezy

2010-04-27T00:27:00.000-07:00
This week our friend Jason joined me, while Ana & Mere were away. It was his first time doing Lunch Bunch, so I kept the number of lunches to 36. We passed out lunches all around Los Feliz, Hollywood and downtown LA.

Jbro packing the heat.

The goods.

All in all, it was a good experience with no major hiccups.

Week 40

2010-04-26T15:02:00.000-07:00
This week our lunches included our signature burger-bun sandwich, banana, water bottle, SoyJoy bar, granola bar, and a cup of applesauce. Delicious!

Week 39

2010-04-26T14:52:00.000-07:00
Our friends Greg and Ara helped us make the deliver the meals for Lunch Bunch this week! We were done in half the time :)

Ara assembled the meals while Greg chopped the veggies.

We had so many great snacks donated this week! Soy Joy bars, mixed nut and chocolate goodie bags, healthy veggies, etc.

Ana assembling the lunch bags.

Lunch Bunch - Easter Edition

2010-04-11T23:30:00.000-07:00
Mere and I are back and just in time for the Easter edition of Lunch Bunch! We missed our friends and our assembly line.

Mere hard at work.

Mere's mom made these cute Easter egg baggies for each meal as a special treat! How thoughtful!

The contents of last week's meal. Banana, nuts, delicious sandwich, chocolate easter eggs, napkins, and water (it was in the car.)

The trip went smoothly for the most part. We were sad to hear one of our regulars was missing and his friend said she didn't know when he'd be back. Another of our regulars said she'd been sick the past couple weeks with pneumonia. Hopefully they are both okay when we check up on them tomorrow.

Week 36: Ara flying solo

2010-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00
This week Ana & Mere were on vacation in Scotland, so I thought I'd attempt to continue the weekly purchasing, making, and handing out of 24 lunches in Los Feliz, Hollywood and Downtown LA. Aside from a touch of anxiety I had passing out the food alone in Downtown Los Angeles, everything went surprisingly without a hitch!

A bit of sillyness

Out of focus me.

Fresh sandwich ingredients purchased day of.

Hoagies with Honey ham, Turkey, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Onions, & Honey mustard.

Sandwich, Granola Bar, Corn nuts, Banana, bag of Carrots, and a 24 ounce water bottle in these bags.

All in all, was great to experience Lunch Bunch on my own this time, and a lot easier than I anticipated.

Art Auction - Call for Entries!

2010-03-09T03:14:00.000-08:00

Tim Biskup canvas print donated by Virtu Art Gallery

The last art auction in November enabled Lunch Bunch to provide meals for the homeless for 6 months. With the help of generous artists and collectors, we raised over $2700! Without the help of you guys, it would be very difficult for us to afford to pay for a fresh, filling meal for 24-48 extra people every week. Words cannon express how grateful we are to have your support.

Lunch Bunch is planning another art auction in May because we are now running low on funds. This time we'd like to give everyone enough notice to mail their art donations to us!

What you can donate:
-Original sketches, drawing, or painting.
-Prints
-Toys

Deadline for entries: May 20th, 2010

We want to make sure every artist is happy with their donation. You can choose to donate any percentage of your proceeds to Lunch Bunch. Last year 100% of ALL PROCEEDS went directly to the homeless.

Email me with your submission: LunchBunchCo@gmail.com

A special thanks goes to the artists that donated to us last year:
The artists participating are: Chet Zar, Tim Biskup, Glenn Barr, Amanda Visell, Jeremiah Ketner, Jeremy Berkley, Shannon Bonatakis, Liz McGrath & Morgan Slade, Frank Stockton, Fang Ling Lee, Peter Chan, Scott Musgrove, Nouar, Scott Belcastro, Estela Hyde, Gary Baseman, Amy Sol, Dominique Fung, Daniel Elson, Aimee Kuester, Natalie Shau, Jenna Colby, John Zaso, N.C. Winters, Jeannie Lynn Paske, Scott Saw and Christopher Umana!

Donated Art from Last Year:

Original drawing donated by Amy Sol

Toy and print set donated by Gary Baseman

Week 35: Italian Edition

2010-03-08T22:20:00.000-08:00
Lunch Bunch decided that after the week of cold weather and rain we needed a warm, filling meal that is packed with goodness.

We decided to make a bow tie pasta with a marinara sauce that was jazzed up by adding lots of veggies and spices.

This week there was a lot of work to do. Right after the grocery shopping we got right to work on the chopping, boiling and saucing.

Our pots were a bit small for all of the pasta so we boiled in batches. We also had zucchini, onions, mushrooms and crushed tomatoes simmering in two pans.

We were lucky enough to have to amazing volunteers this week! Ara was there in the kitchen chopping with us. We cut up a large bag of beef meatballs to put into the sauce.

The meat balls added great flavor and protein to this hot lunch!

A bit later Eyal showed up to help with the packing, delivery and take some blog photos for us.

Once we had the sauce components mixed it was time to start filling the plastic cylinders. Ana and I took turns saucing the pasta and filling the cups.

Ana were both super pleased about how the food turned out! If we could incorporate smells everyone reading this would be salivating!

Now it was to get packing! We had everything hot and ready to eat, now we needed to get it to the people!

The lunch included a soft dinner roll, fruit and pasta.

Delivering the food was a bit of a roller coaster this week.

A lot of our regular Lunch Bunchers were not in their usual area. This always makes Ana and I a bit concerned. We love seeing them every week and making sure they are well enough.

We met a wheelchair bound woman that was disheveled and disoriented. She need us to call a bus for her to take her to Santa Barbara. We did try to call, but we were unable to contact anyone or get proper info for her. We were near the Union Station and decided to find out their schedule so that she can catch a train. We wrote down all the info as the woman had asked and gave it to her with the lunch. She told us that she had been wandering for three days. When we left we weren't sure if there was more we could do.

Next we saw a very suspicious woman with six large suitcases that were all different styles and designs. She was taking one bag at a time across the street. We thought that was fishy, because she left two bags unattended on the side of the street. We then saw her removing things from the suitcases and putting this up her dress. Once we drove by and saw the bags closely we noticed the zippers were busted. We hadn't seen any security outside so we called the station. They let us know they wouldn't do anything and that we would have to call the police. We did.

Everyone who accepted the food started to eat rather quickly, we took this as a very good sign!

Our Italian day was a success, it took a lot more work than normal, but well worth it. Having the ability to serve a hot meal to people in there cold days and freezing nights is a great feeling.

Our next attempt should be much more smooth, we look forward to expanding our Lunch Bunch menu and to serving warm meals made from lots of love!

Week 34

2010-03-08T02:14:00.001-08:00

This week Lunch Bunch had 4 snacks and a great sandwhich, with larger sesame seed buns!

We headed out and started out handing out the lunches to our regulars.

This was a very smooth week, we were able to get all the food made and out very quickly.

Week 33

2010-02-25T00:24:00.000-08:00
Today was gloomy, but the weather person forgot to mention it will be raining sandwiches!

Ana and I started off in downtown today to get some images of how some people are dealing with the weather.

Sadly most people did not have tarps or warm looking apparel.

Also there are people with insufficient ways to carry to their belongings that just seem to get trapped in places. For example this man is always in the same area, I thought it was where he was comfortable. It turns out he has injured feet, plus all of his bags to carry.

Winter is not yet over and there are people stuck in store doorways until dawn, then they are forced to walk the streets to find shelter. This forced way of life is the cause of many homeless people's sicknesses.

Not having nutrients or being stuck in soaked clothing from pouring rain then sleeping on wet cold concrete is what is happening all around us. The homeless people that are being affected are not strangers, they are the people you see driving by the FWY, sleeping in an underpasses or near shelters. Offering an extra sweatshirt, a sandwich, a smile at least could really help someone out in a hard time!

These streets do not have to be mean, they do not have to be cold and most certainly they do not have to be hungry. Please contact us about how you can help our fight against hunger!

Week 31 and 32

2010-02-17T22:04:00.000-08:00
I'm combining the post from the last two weeks because I accidentally deleted the photos from week 31's trip. It was unfortunate, we had some interesting pictures planned.

In the last few weeks, the police came by the blanket fort area and cleared the area out. We don't know where the people have gone, but we heard that asked our regulars that were in the alley a block down to clear the area out as well. The people have spread out to other parts of the open street instead of being tucked away in the middle of the alley together.

During week 31, we started early in the day. Since the shops were open, we weren't able to find all of our regulars who wait until the shops close down to set up their sleeping arrangements. So for week 32, we went later in the evening during dinner time and we were able to find everyone. When Mere and I first started doing Lunch Bunch, we would do it in the evening, after work so some of the people we frequent can only be found in their night spots. We don't mind driving around the area to look for them during the day, though. Sometimes we are successful.

Lunch Bunch Print Auction Issues

2010-02-08T20:00:00.000-08:00
We would like to apologize to the couple people who haven't received their print from the Lunch Bunch auction. We've made attempts to contact the artists that were supposed to mail their prints to the winners, but they seem to have changed their minds and are ignoring our emails. There's really nothing else we can do on our end so we will issue refunds to the winners and make sure ALL the prints we auction off in the future are in our hands.

Week 30

2010-02-04T00:26:00.000-08:00
This is the second week in a row we have had a wonderful volunteer! Thank you Stephanie for coming to town to help out with Lunch Bunch!

Like always we started Lunch Bunch with a quick trip to Smart & Final.

Ana and Stephanie picked out the best produce, meats and bread that we could find.

Next it was off to create sandwiches. It was great to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen.

While Ana and I were slicing and dicing Stephanie was laying down the cheese and mustard.

Great job on the mustard!

Instead of adding cucumbers to the sandwich this time we added some fresh spinach. It gave the sandwiches great color, vitamins and freshness.

Stephanie couldn't go to deliver the lunches with us, but she did an excellent job helping us, we really appreciate all her hard work! Thanks Stephanie!

Then it was off to downtown with Ana. We made 24 lunches this week and were excited to start handing them out. We drove passed the blanket community and it was not there. The blankets were removed and all the people were gone. Next in another familiar area, the people living there had relocated. Luckily we were told where one of our friends had moved to.

This particular person always lets us know the situation of the area. She was there with an older gentleman sleeping just a few feet away from her. She told us it was her uncle and that they have both been sick from the rain. All of her blankets that she normally shields herself from the cold with were soaked. As a result of the rain and wet blankets she had "a touch of hypothermia". She has some health issues that she has let us know about, we appreciate how honest she is with us. When she tells us of her medical history and the things she has dealt with for many years it helps us to know how we can customize her lunch.

The more we gain the trust of our regular Lunch Bunchers the better informed we are and the more we can help with specific issues. We can really feel just how important our weekly meals and visits are.

This week we handed out the lunches a bit later than we have in the past few weeks. In some ways it is better during the day, more people are out, more light and a bit less stressful. On the other hand in the evening we know usually where all of our friends are. Knowing where someone stays for the night makes it much easier to deliver the meals. Sometimes if we are too early we miss some very important people. This week was nice to have a dinner service and see some sought after faces.

Thank you again for all your help our fabulous volunteers!

Week 29

2010-02-02T23:01:00.000-08:00
This week Lunch Bunch was lucky enough to have two amazing volunteers! Greg and Aimée were so lovely to help us make soup lunches. A huge thanks to them for their hard work!

We made a beef and vegetable soup. It was great that the beef was on sale buy 1 get 1 free!

Once I bought all of the ingredients it was time to get them home and chop away! I trimmed all the fat from the meat and cubed it.

There was a lot of meat, but we needed enough for fifty 16oz soup containers. Next I put the cubed meat in a slow cooker to get it nice and tender. This cooked the night through.

The next morning I began to prepare the soup. I chopped up the veggies then added them to the broth, seasoning and meat.

Ana and Greg stopped at Smart & Final to get the rest of the supplies for the lunch while the soup was cooking.

The soup had 8 different vegetables and lots of savory meat!

Ana and Greg started putting the soup into 16 oz containers.

The lunch consisted of 2 oranges, a roll, a sweet treat(Greg's wonderful addition) and of course the soup.

Aimée arrived just in time for bagging the lunches. She set up the paper bags so that we can efficiently put the water and snacks together.

We opted to keep the soup in hot bags.

After we were all loaded up, we hit the road to start handing out the food. Greg and Aimée were amazing! They were both so eager to start handing things out.

Greg was so outgoing and warm that everyone was very responsive to him. His Spanish also came in handy. Thank you Greg for you help and hard work.

It was a treat for Ana and I to finally get to meet Aimée in person. She was popping in and out of the car to hand out lunches, it was great! Thank you for working with us and the support you have given!

The Lunch Bunchers from Week 29!

Week 28

2010-01-25T11:06:00.000-08:00
This week Ara helped us assemble the 48 meals. We've increased the number of meals to 48 again since our super successful art auction and with three people, the assembly goes much faster. Since we've also added healthier snack options, there is more work involved in bagging the snacks. Items like baby carrots, pretzels, trail mix, and orange slices all need to be counted, separated and bagged.

Ara laying out the burger buns.

Mere cutting up the oranges.

Inside a downtown parking lot.

Week 27

2010-01-10T21:06:00.000-08:00
Lunch Bunch started with a trip to the Farmers Market in Hollywood. It was a beautiful day and the outdoor market smelled great from all the fresh produce.

We purchased our fruits from couple different stands. We were able to sample them to ensure the sweet deliciousness of the fruit. Some of the people we purchased the oranges from were very informative and interested in Lunch Bunch.

We found some beautiful heirloom tomatoes for the sandwiches.

Next we were off to Smart & Final, we picked up the rest of the items we needed.

This week we wanted to make scarves for our Lunch Bunchers to wear during the chilly night. We bought some soft fleece, set up our cutting boards and began to cut.

Ana delicately added fringe to all the scarves, making them a bit more fashionable.

We ended up making a big pile of scarves and we were very pleased about how well they turned out!

Next we started to cut veggies/fruit, assemble sandwiches and pack the meals.

This is what 48 lunches packed into the lunch mobile looks like.

A special thanks to Rosela, my mom, who donated some thick sleeping bags, jackets, sweaters, soaps and perfumes.

The sleeping bags and clothes were gently used. The Lunch Bunchers that received the items were happy to have something cozy to keep them from the cold pavement.

Thanks to everyone for all of you support, we hope to see you at the Trappings group show next Friday! It is great having people helping us raise money to help feed those in need! THANK YOU!

Week 26

2010-01-07T01:17:00.000-08:00
This week Lunch Bunch had great nutritional snacks! We really like to include fresh fruit and veggies in our lunches. We also like to changes or add some new items to the menu.

We purchased the bulk of the items at Smart & Final, we also had some food items donated.

This week we had lots of washing, chopping and bagging to do!

The oranges looked so juicy!

After all of the sandwich items were chopped I set up 24 buns. Doing 48 sandwiches takes a lot of space, so doing them in batches works well for us!

While I was working on the sandwhiches Ara was bagging pretzels and carrots with celery. Ana was hard at work making a delish trail mix.

The mix had walnuts, pistachios, cashews and raisins.

Once we got all of the items organized it is fast and easy to fill all the lunch bags.

We added a sweet festive chocolate to the bags just for fun.

Ana and I were very excited to hand out these full and delicious Lunch Bags!!

Live Painting Auction!

2009-12-30T00:56:00.001-08:00
WWA Gallery will be donating the work created at the opening of their next show on January 15th to Lunch Bunch! The participating artists will work on a live painting which will then be auctioned off by Lunch Bunch.

WWA Gallery
January 15th, 7-10 PM
9517 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310.836.4992

Come join us at the opening and watch the artists paint! Click the flyer to enlarge.

Christmas Eve Dinner

2009-12-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas I got a call from Alan of Luna Park Restaurant with a very generous offer. They wanted to prepare a hot dinner, pre-packaged with silverware for us to pick up and pass out to our Lunch Bunch regulars! This was such an amazing gift from Luna Park to Lunch Bunch. They saved us time by having all the packages prepared by the time we arrived and made a meal far more delicious than we could have attempted. We can't express our gratitude enough for their kindness. Thank you Alan, Cameron, Aimee and the chefs at Luna Park for making Christmas eve dinner very special for Lunch Bunch.

The meal was directly from their dinner menu:
Skyscraper Lager Marinated Half Chicken with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Fingerling Potatoes and Butternut Squash

Also included was a hot cup of vegetable soup! It smelled like smokey garlic, so good!

The smell of the food was so strong, we almost got rushed in downtown while passing out the food! We heard great things about the meal from the recipients when we did our regular route on Sunday! Everyone loved the hot meal on a cold night.

Here is their address and website, everyone in LA should stop by for a meal and thank them on behalf of Lunch Bunch!

Luna Park Restaurant
672 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036-3519
(323) 934-2110
http://www.lunaparkla.com/

We also want to send a big red THANK YOU to Kirsten Anderson of Roq La Rue gallery for her super generous Christmas gift/donation to Lunch Bunch. It's because of wonderful, selfless, and generous people like you that we can do what we do. You guys made Christmas so special for the Lunch Bunchers!

Happy Holidays from Lunch Bunch!

Week 24

2009-12-14T01:23:00.000-08:00
We thought we should change things up a bit this week because everyone loves variety. Instead of bananas, we bought apples (red and green) and oranges and sliced them up. We also got a vegetable mix instead of baby carrots alone and pretzels instead of cheese and crackers because they are healthier and lower in fat.

Apples and oranges sliced up for easy eating.

Carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower

Pretzels!

The contents of this week's lunch bag, minus the water which we keep in the car.

Mere setting up the paper bags.

Auction Shipment Update

2009-12-09T01:21:00.000-08:00
**If you have sent payment for your winning items from the Lunch Bunch auction, they have all been shipped!**

Some of the packages should have arrived by now from the first shipment. If you are happy with our services, please leave us feedback on ebay (the good kind)!

Thank you!

Week 23

2009-12-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

This week we decided to stop by weekly farmer's market and see how much it would cost if we switched to organic produce inste of the conventionally grown (pre-ripened) produce from the grocery store and it was surprisingly inexpensive! The onions were only a quarter and a huge cucumber was $1! The tomatoes are juicy, perfectly ripe and tasted amazing.

The rest of items we got from Smart and Final.

Some of the sandwiches included swiss cheese.

One good-looking sandwich.

Danielle Directo from the LAist came along to take pictures for an article on Lunch Bunch!

We wore our festive sweaters for the occasion.

The contents of this week's bags.

One of our regulars was telling us there was a strong rain coming sunday night and he and his wife were really worried about their blankets getting soaked because he had a cane and it's difficult for them to find a close-by laundromat to carry their wet blankets to. While he didn't ask us for anything, we decided to stop by the nearest Home Depot and pick up a few plastic sheets they could use during the rain to shield their belongings from wetness.

The one pictured was for someone else, but we got the couple a very large one they could share with other people in their area. It was 10 x 25 feet. We got another large one for the nice man across the street that always gives his meals away to other homeless people before taking one for himself. He immediately told us he would give the sheet to the couple across the street. We reassured him they got one already.

Gloomy day before the rains came.

*Auction Shipping Update*

2009-12-05T06:30:00.000-08:00
I have shipped out more than half of the art from the Lunch Bunch auction already and the rest will be mailed out on Monday. Thank you for your patience! There is a lot of packing to be done.

Some people may start getting packages as early as Monday or Tuesday! We'd like to ask that if you're happy with your items, to please leave us feedback on ebay.

Thank you!

Week 22

2009-12-01T17:21:00.000-08:00
The Lunch Bunch auction has ended (with only one piece left to bid on) and it was a GREAT success. We reached our first goal of $1000 and raised almost $2800! That's over 1400 meals we can make and give away! All of the listings ended with bids, some of them climbing into the 100's. Thanks to these amazing artists and collectors, Lunch Bunch can now raise the number of meals to 48 again for many months.

We included fresh baby carrots for a more healthy snack.

Mere brought some heat packs for the cold weather.

Mere hard at work.

I made extra Thanksgiving cookies for our regulars.

Another group making the homeless listen to them read from the bible before letting them have a peanut butter sandwich. They weren't very friendly to us either.

The Auction is Up!

2009-11-24T02:05:00.000-08:00
The Lunch Bunch auction is up! We have 33 prints, paintings, and drawings for auction! More may be added in the next couple days. Here is the link: Lunch Bunch on Ebay

Thank you to everyone who donated prints and original art for our auction! This auction is going to help Lunch Bunch keep providing delicious, nutritious meals and care packages to those in need for many months. We are very grateful to be part of a generous and caring community of artists and collectors!

Remember, each lunch bag we prepare only costs $1.75 per person for ALL of the following: Ham, cheese, and vegetable sandwich, one fruit, one salty snack, one sweet snack, and napkins. Each week the items are changed up a little because we have about 20 regulars that we see each week and we want the bags to be special each time. The rest of the meals are passed out to anyone we come across who is in need of food.

*100% of all proceeds will be used for Lunch Bunch.

We have raised over $1000 just on the first day!!

Lunch Bunch Art Auction

2009-11-23T14:54:00.001-08:00

**EDIT: Here is the link to the auction: Click Me

It's finally here! The print/art auction for Lunch Bunch will start tomorrow on ebay (link will be posted tonight at midnight.) Initially we asked artists to donate a single print, but we have also received a few pieces of original art as well! 100% of all proceeds will be used towards making delicious, nutritious meals for the homeless of Los Angeles.

The artists participating are: Chet Zar, Tim Biskup, Glenn Barr, Amanda Visell, Jeremiah Ketner, Jeremy Berkley, Shannon Bonatakis, Liz McGrath & Morgan Slade, Frank Stockton, Fang Ling Lee, Peter Chan, Scott Musgrove, Nouar, Scott Belcastro, Estela Hyde, Gary Baseman, Amy Sol, Dominique Fung, Daniel Elson, Aimee Kuester, Natalie Shau, Jenna Colby, John Zaso, N.C. Winters, Jeannie Lynn Paske, Scott Saw and Christopher Umana and me!

Here is a small preview of what we will be auctioning (click on images to enlarge):

Tim Biskup - Canvas Print (donated by www.virtuartgallery.com)

Amy Sol - Original Drawing

Gary Baseman donated his Pink HotChaChaCha vinyl toy + print set!

Jeremiah Ketner - Print

Peter Chan - Print

Josh Cochran - Letterpress Print

Scott Musgrove - Print Set

Jeremy Berkley - Original Drawing

Jenna Colby - Original Painting!

Nouar - Print

Shannon Bonatakis - Print

Daniel Elson - Drypoint Print

Ana Bagayan - Print

N.C. Winters - Print

Amanda Visell - Print

Frank Stockton - Print

Scott Belcastro - Print (donated by http://www.creepmachine.com/)

Christopher Umana - Print

Fang Ling Lee - Print

Aimee Kuester - Original Drawing

Chet Zar - Print

To find out more about the auction and Lunch Bunch visit our blog: http://lunchbunchco.blogspot.com/

If you'd still like to donate a piece for the auction, it is not too late!! Just send me an email (anabagayan@gmail.com) with an image and the info of your piece. I do not need the actual piece until the auction is over.

Lunch Bunch - Halloween

2009-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

On Halloween, Mere and I stopped by the 99 cent store to pick up some festive napkins and cookies to include in the meals.

The meals still included our signature burger-sandwiches. If you're questioning why we're using burger buns, its simply because they hold up better than sandwich bread. The thick toast bread works well but its hard to find and sometimes we have to buy multiple packages of bread to make 24 sandwiches. The burger buns are only $3.99 for a package of 24 buns!

The fort people weren't there that day. I'm really curious as to what they're using to hold up the blankets underneath, its pretty amazing. It doesn't seem to have changed since we first started doing Lunch Bunch and has held up through harsh rain.

The lady that lives here told us she used to pass out food to the homeless also, when she used to have a home herself.

2 more weeks of pictures to come! We're a little behind on the posts, unfortunately.

Lunch Bunch Print Auction

2009-11-15T11:19:00.000-08:00
We are pleased to announce that Lunch Bunch will be holding a print auction on November 24th and 100% of all proceeds will go towards Lunch Bunch meals! Artists and collectors have generously donated artwork for the auction and we have already collected so many amazing prints from various artists including Chet Zar, Tim Biskup, Glenn Barr, Amanda Visell, Jeremiah Ketner, Jeremy Berkley, Ana Bagayan, Shannon Bonatakis, Liz McGrath & Morgan Slade, Fang Ling Lee, Peter Chan, Estela Hyde, Gary Baseman, Aimee Kuester, Amy Sol, Dominique Fung, Daniel Elson, Natalie Shau, John Zaso, N.C. Winters, Jeannie Lynn Paske, and Christopher Umana.

***If you are interested in donating a print or any piece of artwork for the auction, please email me for the shipping address! anabagayan@gmail.com

Here is a sampling of the prints we will have for auction. Tim Biskup, top, and Amanda Visell, bottom, both donated by Tom Jones of http://excellentvirtu.com/

Donated by Chet Zar.

A big thank you to all the amazing artists and collectors that have donated prints and, of course, Ally Takeuchi Cipriani for her help in organizing the auction.

Keep Lunch Bunch In Mind

2009-11-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

We at Lunch Bunch dream that we can feed those who are hungry; we believe the most important thing we can give someone is food and water. Food and water are at the core of all the necessities to survive. In order to grow, to breathe, to walk, to function we need nutrients for our bodies.

We are also realists, we understand we can’t feed everyone and we can’t do it all alone. In the next few months we will need help from people who support this dream and realize their help is crucial.

We will be scheduling donation drop offs and pickups. If you have any questions about how to start a donation center at your work or school please contact us. We will gladly go over some simple ideas and set up a weekly pick up. We are also going to be making some warm items for the homeless and will need help.

So just for you information in the next few months pay close attention to Lunch Bunch, we need the dreamers and the realists because it takes all sorts!

Week 18

2009-10-25T19:39:00.000-07:00
Hello everyone! I am back in town and reunited with Mere to create some delicious sandwiches for Lunch Bunch today. It was a sunny day and our friends were in good spirits today.

Since I've been traveling for two weeks, I didn't get a chance to thank the people that have purchased a Prey print in support of Lunch Bunch. Your donations are so appreciated! We run out of money every week and every little bit from every single person makes a big difference for us.

Mere and I are discussing new ways to generate funds for Lunch Bunch and will be testing out some new Lunch Bunch-related products we want to make (ourselves) and sell with 100% of proceeds going to Lunch Bunch.

In the meantime, here are some photos from today's trip.

24 sandwiches!

Mere shopping for our produce.

A sunny day for the blanket forts.

Streets of Downtown, LA.

Week 17 Rainy Day Special

2009-10-25T10:37:00.001-07:00

This week I did Lunch Bunch alone after work. My mom made a ton of delicious soup that had tender beef and a variety of veggies! She cooked the soup all day to get the perfect flavors and soft veggies. I was able to fill twenty four 16 oz containers. The soup was boiled before I packed it so they wouldn’t lose too much heat before they were delivered. The soup consisted of: spinach, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, celery, squash, white onion, red onion, chicken broth and lean beef chunks.

paper soup containers

Dropping off the soup alone wasn’t hard at all; everyone was so receptive to the warm goodness. It had been rainy and cold, so the warm food was appreciated. When I went to the blanket community to deliver the soup no one was there. Some of the people moved a block to where a man lives in his car. They needed proper shelter, their blankets were soaked. Also in the alley there were new people settling in.

I kept some in heat bags so that they wouldn't get cold by the time I went into downtown.

This is what driving into down town looked like, cold and dreary!

By the time I got to downtown I had given out 12 of the 24 soups. I made sure to get all of the regulars in down town, they were surprised to have homemade soup and I was happy about their reaction. I stopped to give this very warm couple some soup and the man was very happy to see me and was asking where Ana was. He wanted me to promise to call Ana and let him know he said “hello”. They are a great couple o chat with, nothing can keep them from smiling- not even the rain pouring over them.

I found our LA woman setting up her sleeping area, I was able to park and go chat with her. I found out more info about her and it was great to feel her being so open. She is special to me, the fact that she came here to find a better life and ended up having to live on the street, but she can still smile and hold her head up shows she has great strength.

Since I was already parked I packed up the last few containers of soup and went walking down the street to deliver it to some people who were setting up their beds or who were just hungry. Being on my feet walking towards people felt great, normally in downtown we usually just drive to people.

Seeing what the rain did to people’s homes, clothes and spirits was very hard. There were tons more homeless people out than normal. It was hard to know I couldn’t help them; I can’t give them a warm or dry place to sleep. It is hard to realize that someone that you just talked to is going to have to sleep out in the wet cold and that they could get very sick.

Week 16

2009-10-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that donated last week! We made enough to cover yesterday's 24 packages + clothing and hygiene items. We made customized bags for each of our regulars with their own specific needs.

Some of the extras we bought are:

14 warm sweaters, shirts, and jackets, and women's shirts.
6 pairs of thick socks
6 packs of bath wipes
Packages of pens, pencils, and a notebook for the man that writes.
1 Toothbrush and toothpaste kit
Dog food for the man with the dog.

All these items were only $1 each. It's amazing how far $80 can take you.

As for the meals, this week we served:

Fresh ham, cheese, and vegetable sandwich.
Banana
Applesauce
Cheese and crackers
Cranberry muffin
Bottle of water

If you'd like to donate to Lunch Bunch for week 17, please use the Google Carts Button on the right side of this page. (It is half way cut off so you may have to stretch your browswer to see it.) You can choose $10, $20 or $40 with the drop down menu.

Thank you for all your support and donations! We wouldn't be able to do this without you guys!

Help Friends Help Friends

2009-09-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you to those who donated last week, we appreciate the support!

We saw some really great things this week. We saw people from the blanket community give up their food when all they had was a can of something. They wanted to help someone else, they wanted to help a friend.

Their friend is a woman who is probably in her 30’s living alone in a dark alley with just a few items. The way we normally walk into the alley was blocked by construction so we drove to the other side of the alley. When we got to her we were greeted with smiles and hellos!

The blanket friends were with her giving up their lunches because they knew she didn’t have any. The woman from the alley was happy to see us and was concerned about us because she didn’t want us to get hurt from the construction. She is sweet. The blanket gentleman also let us know he thinks our sandwiches are delicious, that was a good moment for us!

We try not to pry or get to chummy so that we can continue doing what we do. We do not want to intrude or bother. So it was cool that these people, whom we think about so much, think about us too.

We gave them all more lunches, then we all stood there smiling and laughing because we were all friends. Lunch Bunch is out of donations and we need you to help us to help others. Help friends help friends.

Week 15

2009-09-29T06:50:00.000-07:00
Lunch Bunch has been making 24 meals for the past few weeks because we have run out of donation money. With the 24 packages, we are at least able to visit our regulars each week and can customize the bags with each person's special needs. We learned today that the recipients think our sandwiches are delicious :)

The nights are getting colder and we will be accepting (and purchasing) warm clothing and blankets. Mere and I are going to purchase fleece fabric from downtown and make scarfs and blankets out of them. In the meantime, if you have any blankets or warm clothing to donate in Los Angeles, please email us at lunchbunchco@gmail.com. We will come pick them up!

If you'd like to donate money to Lunch Bunch, you can use the google carts button on the right of this page or purchase the Prey print here: http://www.anabagayan.com/Store/

Other items that we need for specific people:

-Large Men's and Women's sandals and slippers
-Toothbrushes and Toothpaste
-Pens & Pencils (one man keeps a journal and runs out of writing supplies.)
-Warm blankets
-Beanies and hats
-Large sized gloves
-A small or medium pillow to fit on a sleeping bag. The man with the dog has been using a worn out seat cushion as a pillow.

If you have any of these items for Lunch Bunch, leave us a comment here or email us.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity!

A very sweet man with a sense of humor and his happy, healthy dog Katie. She likes women and children and has a friend that brings her dog food each week. We met them only two weeks ago and have added them to our regular route.

The man told us that the fine for having a cart that belongs to a grocery store is $250 or time in jail. He said he prefers the time in jail. His cart was a gift from the Catholic Church and he cannot be fined for it.

Rats! We've been seeing rats at the blanket-fort community the past few weeks! They are about a foot long and pretty scary considering they can just crawl into bed with our friends.

Week 13 & 14

2009-09-21T02:33:00.000-07:00
Last week I forgot to bring my camera along on our trip so we missed a post. To make up for it, here are extra pictures from week 14.

Week 12

2009-09-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Ara helped me prepare the sandwiches before Mere and Edgar arrived. It's amazing how much faster the assembly line goes with two people.

This week's meal.

48 packages.

Edgar helped us drive this week.

This man usually takes an extra lunch for his friend that has a tent inside the parking lot. We hear him call out "Hey! Come get your lunch!" as we drive away each week. Sometimes there are two or tree more people with him. One week we gave him three bags because we thought there were only three people with him, not noticing a fourth person sleeping. As we were driving away, I noticed he passed out the bags to the other three people instead of keeping one for himself. What a amazing, selfless person he is. We made sure to drive around and give him another package.

Week 11

2009-08-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

It's been incredibly hot the past week so our focus this week was to provide plenty of cold water and ice along with the lunches. Our friend Tiffany volunteered to help me out this week in Mere's absence.

Tiffany.

These burger buns were on sale and were much larger than sandwich bread, making for a hearty sandwich. They smelled delicious! We included the regular cheese and crackers, cereal bars, and ripe peaches.

We froze some water bottles overnight, cooled the rest of the bottles in an igloo inside the car and bought these large containers to fill with ice. Cold water was a relief in the 100 degree+ weather we've been having. I think we will do this again next week!

Week 10

2009-08-24T17:57:00.000-07:00
Thank you to everyone that purchased a print, donated with our new Google cart, or donated clothing and food items. We were able to raise a good amount of money for Lunch Bunch with the print sale! You can still purchase the print here.

As for the donation cart, it works just fine despite the button being cut off the page. Still working on that part...

Apologies for the late post, the following pictures are from last week's trip. There will be a new post on this week's trip in a couple days.

Last week's items. We made 60 meals.

The clothing was donated by Mere's boss. Some of items were brand new with tags! Thank you!!

Our little helper.

Some of the people and streets we see each time.

Most of the trash piles come from the shops.

New Print for Lunch Bunch!

2009-08-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

Ready to go.

In an effort to raise money for Lunch Bunch, we are releasing a new small and inexpensive print! 100% of proceeds will go to Lunch Bunch.

"Prey"
Edition of 100
Size is approx. 6.5 by 9" with 1" border
Archival pigment on Hahnemuhle paper
Signed and Numbered by Ana Bagayan
$25 + shipping

-Each order will feed 12 people with a Lunch Bunch meal!

Prey - Print

Week 9 - Back in LA!

2009-08-12T07:33:00.000-07:00
Mere and I teamed up again on Monday for a Lunch Bunch dinner. We made 32 packages this week and were able to get the meals out to people before they fell asleep. Our two favorite gentlemen were in good spirits and happy to see us.

Next week, we are thinking of perhaps asking them if there is anything specific they are in need of. Up to this point we have not asked any questions whatsoever, personal or otherwise. We didn't want to pry or make anyone feel uncomfortable. However, a couple of the people we visit regularly have been more talkative and we would LOVE to know their names.

Food 4 Less!

This is not a small piece of bread, its a big piece of cheese!

These burger buns worked out really well, I hope we can buy these next time as well. They don't get soggy as quickly as the thin sliced bread.

My friend Eliza came by and dropped off three bags of donated clothing! Thanks, Eliza!

Eliza's donated blanket went to a shirtless man who was trying to build a fire because he said he was cold. We went by to check on him and his fire and, fortunately, it was being extinguished by police. At least his blanket will keep him warm.

The smaller sized women's clothing and a fanny pack went to a young person from the blanket-fort community.

Our favorite lady got a new purse, jeans, belt and t-shirts and her husband got new collared shirts.

The rest of the women's clothing and shoes will be taken to the shelter.

Lunch Bunch Week 8 Los Angeles Edition

2009-08-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lunch Bunch Week 8:

This week there was a new sandwich bread, new partner, new items in the lunch, but the same quest. Eyal and I were taking care of Los angles while Ana was working on Lunch Bunch in Fresno with Ara and their friend.

The day started great, I picked up our groceries from Food For Less and supplies from a 99 Plus store.

I became discouraged at the grocery store because all of the bread was so thinly sliced. I decided on soft delicious smelling bread rolls. Since we were only preparing 24 lunches. I thought this was a great time to test out new bread options.

Once at Eyal’s apartment we started to set up an assembly line of items to make little necessity kits. The necessity kits included: Spoons, Chap sticks, Toothpick/floss, safety pins, q-tips and small towels.

Once we had the kits done we cleaned and disinfected the kitchen in order to start slicing, chopping for the sandwich production. Chopping all the veggies at once saves a ton of time.

Once you have made so many sandwiches before it is easy to guesstimate how many tomatoes, cucumbers and onions need to be sliced.

Setting the veggies in a divided container is great for easy grabbing access.

Now it was time to slice and mustard the breads. These rolls were thick, but soft and are easy to chew. I didn’t have to worry about this bread crumbling, getting soggy or drying out.

Here is a quick sandwich assembly video.

So inside each Lunch Bunch bag there was: a sandwich, apple juice, crackers, grapes, banana, gelatin cup, cookie, towel and a necessity kit. (Some bags did not have two fruits).

Now that the packing was done it was time to hand out the meals, this is easily the best part of Lunch Bunch!
It was close to 7 when we left to Los Feliz, we had to visit some very important people. It was great to show Eyal what we do each week and for him to get a chance to meet some new favorite people in my life.

We also went to the blanket community, a home made out of blankets constructed by a group.
The couple we usually see wasn’t there but a lovely person was there to take lunches for everyone.

Now it was time to head to downtown to give out the rest of the meals.

The rest of the night went smoothly, everyone was very accepting. Lunch Bunch Week 8 was amazing, just like always! One disturbing thing is that each time I venture to skid row I see less and less people. Scary.

Thank you from Lunch Bunch for reading, our blogs and thank you Eyal for being our newest Lunch Bunch person.

Lunch Bunch in Fresno, CA

2009-08-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

Mere and I split up our Lunch Bunch duties this week because I was out of town. She did half in LA, and I did the other half in Fresno with Ara and our friend Greg.

We drove downtown to the 4 or 5 blocks surrounds Poverello House (a shelter) where the homeless occupied.

This area seemed more clean and organized than LA. Most people had tents set up and Poverello House even had a closed off area of tents that served as temporary shelter.

Village of Hope provides temporary shelters for the homeless.

I'm glad we were able to try a new city for Lunch Bunch. The people again were friendly, honest, and happy to receive the meals and cold water. It was very hot in Fresno and I noticed a lot of people were sunburnt. LA has been getting very hot during the day too. Perhaps we should set aside a small budget for sunblock and/or hats to shade the sun.

A jolly old man was driving this car.

Donations through the Workplace

2009-08-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Getting others involved in your cause can be a challenge. I think that the best way to teach about Lunch Bunch is to involve those around us with the process and purpose.

The mention of Lunch Bunch sparked an immediate interest in a few of my colleagues. They generously and eagerly gave donations to us that were very much appreciated. These first donations were so great and so helpful; it wasn’t a surprise who the first people to donate were. Thank you guys!

So to get the idea of Lunch Bunch really stewing at my workplace I decided to hold a raffle. We were accepting any donation: money, clothes, toiletries, food items. Everyone who donated received a raffle ticket that gave them a chance to win a free lunch made by me and a prize.

The donations that we received were great! They were clothes, money and food items. The lunch was going to be served on a Friday and the raffle done the Thursday before. I am not sure if anyone was even keen on winning to begin with, everyone wanted to just donate.

Now there was a twist to this raffle that no one knew about. Not one person would get a free lunch as promised; everyone was going to get lunch! The idea behind Lunch Bunch is that when you help one person you help all people. Having everyone get the lunch was a fun way to demonstrate this point. The next day we all ate pasta, salads, bread and sausages.

The person who won the prize was Valerie; she received a lovely bath set. I do feel that we all won that day, because the idea behind Lunch Bunch was presented and understood.

Helping others creates opportunities for a better community, nation and world. Thank you again all who have donated in one way or another!

Week 7

2009-07-28T23:46:00.000-07:00
We had a very successful dinner-time Lunch Bunch trip tonight. It was 8 o'clock by the time we were ready to go and it was getting dark. We were a little nervous to be going to skid row tonight, but everything went very well and we passed out 48 meals in about an hour.

These babies were perfectly ripe and sweet.

Some of the kits included toothbrush and toothpaste or a nail grooming kit that I found at the 99cent store and people were very happy to receive these items.

Mere brought along a large ice chest to keep the water bottles cold.

It was dark by the time we got out, so we weren't able to take any pictures of the streets we visited, other than this tunnel. It is occupied by a dozen sleeping homeless at night.

One thing that stuck out to me tonight was seeing a young girl, her mother, and grandmother living on the streets. We must have looked strange pulling up to them at 9pm, asking if they wanted food, but they accepted. Lucky for us, Mere and I don't look very conspicuous. The young girl must have been only seven or eight years old. We gave them extra meals and water for later as well.

In the next week, I will be in Fresno and will have a Lunch Bunch trip in a new city. Mere will do a trip here in LA so we don't miss our regulars this week. We will keep you posted on our progress!

Donations

2009-07-27T12:34:00.001-07:00
The best way to donate to Lunch Bunch until we get this paypal mess sorted out, is to purchase the items in my Etsy account. 100% of proceeds from the print and postcard sales will go to Lunch Bunch.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
anabagayan.etsy.com

The Meanest City

2009-07-23T02:59:00.001-07:00
Los Angeles ranks #1 on the list of meanest cities in a report put together by The National Coalition for the Homeless. The full report is here, scroll to page 36.

I have highlighted some of the main parts and bolded the important parts for the skimmers.

-Los Angeles was spending $6 million a year to pay for fifty extra police officers to crack down on crime in the Skid Row area at a time when the city budgeted only $5.7 million for homeless services...24 people were arrested 201 times...Many of the citations issued to homeless persons in the Skid Row area were for jaywalking and loitering, “crimes” that rarely produce writtencitations in Los Angeles outside of Skid Row.

-Moving homeless individuals from Skid Row not only takes them away from a familiar area, but also moves them farther from service providers. Around the time of the police crackdown on Skid Row the providers in surrounding neighborhoods, such as Santa Monica and Hollywood, noticed an increase in their homeless populations, a problem for which they were unprepared.

Mere and I start our route in Hollywood and look for people who are alone or hidden. Although we didn't know exactly why, we knew there was a good reason why some people chose to stay far from skid row or other areas with shelters and other service providers. I'm glad we pay special attention to these people, especially those that have chosen nicer, safer neighborhoods to live in.

-In October 2007, six homeless plaintiffs challenged a law that makes it illegal to sit or lay on sidewalks. The city agreed not to enforce the law between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. until it builds 1,250 units of permanent supportive housing. 1,250 new units of housing would only aid 2.6 percent of the city’s homeless population.

There is also a list of cities that prohibit FEEDING the homeless. Full list of cities here.

Santa Monica, CA has taken numerous steps to address the sharing of food with homeless persons in the community. The city’s ordinances directly limit food sharing in two ways. First, in a law recently passed by the City Council, the city has prohibited leaving food or clothing in city parks as a means of donation. Second, the city has an ordinance that requires any group who intends to “feed the needy” to first obtain a permit. In order to meet constitutional requirements, the city has amended language in another ordinance that prohibited the distribution of food on city streets and sidewalks without a permit. The new language exempts noncommercial food distribution from the ordinance’s scope.

'Silence' Winners

2009-07-22T19:54:00.001-07:00
Lunch Bunch is pleased to announce the two winners of the 'Silence' print giveaway. Congratulations to Sven Davis and Bonnie Millard!

The prize, limited edition print of Silence.

We'd like to say a big thank you to everyone that has contributed. Your gifts during the past couple weeks will enable us to make meals and provide much needed items to the homeless for another three weeks! We know first-hand how much the meals, clothing and other donated items are appreciated by the people receiving them. We've seen faces smile and cry out of happiness, knowing that someone cares about them and is looking out for them. There are so many different types of people we are meeting and getting to know. I don't know how long Mere and I would have been able to do this without your help!

THANK YOU.

New Lunch Bunch Video

2009-07-21T22:53:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Ara Devejian for filming and editing this video. He spent all day putting it together and it came out beautiful.

Week 6

2009-07-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

Extra items included new socks, underwear, toothbrushes, combs, and snacks.

Lunch Bunch would like to thank Valerie, Vanessa, Estela G., Rod, Estela H., Ally, Sven, Diana, Jen, Chet, Nicholas, Tiffany, PrintsAhoy, Allison, Mathew, Penelope, Scott, Mary and Mere's lovely mother for all their support and contributions in the past couple weeks and for making lunch bunch bags extra special today. We were able to include bonus items in the bags (things that people asked us for last week) like new socks and underwear and toothbrushes and extra food items. We had 49 Bags today and spent and extra $30 on new socks from the 99 cent store. Each bag cost about $2.27 this time.

We got a new slicer from Mere's mom!

Since it's been so hot outside lately, we decided to get a cooler and put the water bottles in ice in the car so we can pass out cold water. This was a little extra work while handing the bags out but I like that we were able to fit extra items in the bags instead of the water.

There was some special people that we have been visiting regularly each week and we made customized bags for them. The nice lady in the blanket-fort community was so excited to see the toothbrush kit in her bag. Last week when we dropped off the two large bags of clothing to her community, she started crying. It seemed like no one had been nice to them in a long time and we want to do something special for them each week.

Ara took over my spot after I had a little accident with the new slicer.

This is how we do it.

Ara helped us out again this week in the car and he filmed some video footage of the streets. I will post that in the next couple days, once I'm finished editing it. We are also putting together a list of things our supporters can do to help Lunch Bunch and their community.

Most of the streets we drive down are covered in trash because there aren't enough bins in the area for people to throw their trash away properly.

Case in point.

In the meantime, all proceeds from the items in my Etsy shop will be donated to Lunch Bunch. You can purchase them here.

Postcard Set - $15 + sh

Limited Edition Print - $50 + sh

Donations

2009-07-19T04:13:00.001-07:00

Paypal has decided we can no longer accept donations with their services so for the time being, if you'd like to contribute to Lunch Bunch, please email us directly until we set up another system that doesn't require us to turn into a business. Lunchbunchco@gmail.com

The raffle winners will be announced on the Wednesday, July 22nd.

Dinner Bunch

2009-07-14T03:19:00.001-07:00

This week's contents cost $1.70 a bag, a record breaker for Lunch Bunch (by a nickel.)

Due to some schedule conflicts, Lunch Bunch was moved to Monday evening instead of Sunday. Almost everything went smoothly today. We made it out of the kitchen around 7, just in time for dinner. I bought ALL the groceries from Smart and Final this time and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. We can skip Food-4-Less from now on. My bill was $81 for 48 meals, bringing the cost per bag down from last week by a nickel.

A mountain of sandwiches, 48 baggies high.

Isn't this ridiculous? I'm not certain but I think it belongs to Food 4 Less, since it was sitting in front of the grocery store. I drove by the pile twice, it had been sitting out there all day.

I took some video footage of some of the streets we stop by when passing out the food, just to give you an idea of where we are going.

We met a sweet lady that has been living in a small blanket-fort community with her husband. There was a total of six people there today so we left the two large bags of clothing with them. Their rooms are all attached to each other and each one is about the size of a two-person tent, maybe smaller. The entire complex is crafted out of blankets and clothing. There were a lot of soft, thick jackets in the bags we got from Jet Rag that they could also use as pillows.

It's really amazing how the people take care of each other and make sure we don't miss any of their friends near by. There is one man that we have seen every week at the same bus stop and he ALWAYS takes an extra bag for his friend in the nearby parking lot. We wouldn't have been able to reach him otherwise because a fence separates him from the street.

The water has been a really important part of the lunches. I wish the bags were big enough to carry two bottles.

We are brainstorming ideas of possible ways that our supporters can contribute and/or help us expand Lunch Bunch so that we can reach more people. Some wonderful people from other cities and states have contacted us about starting their own Lunch Bunches in their town and we are completely thrilled and would love to see that happen. Others have donated water, clothing, and time to us and we are so thankful to have such kind and generous friends. We will keep you posted in the upcoming weeks about our progress!

LA's Homeless Blog

2009-07-07T13:05:00.000-07:00
I've been following this blog for a while, its full of resources and info and keeps up with homeless-related news and happenings in LA and other cities. http://www.lahomelessblog.org/

Lunch Bunch - Week 4

2009-07-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

The beautiful photos were taken by Ara Devejian

Lunch Bunch started off the day at 7:30 am, which is a miracle considering this is the day after the fourth of July. We went to Jet Rag, our donation drop off location.

While we waited, Mere found some nice jackets and sweaters at the $1 sale and I went across the street to the 99cent store to buy the remaining items for the lunches.

We ended up with a total of 0 donations, and 16 jackets from Jet Rag.

This weeks items.

We'd like to thank Ara, Jessica, Patricia, Amy, Marie, and Lourdes for their very generous donations this week. We've been able to more than double the number of meals we make in the past few weeks with your help! You guys have been so wonderful and supportive!

The sandwich factory.

We made 70 lunches this week!

Mere and Ana, the Lunch Bunch crew.

We started with our usual spots, in Hollywood first, then straight to downtown to the congested areas. The 70 lunches were passed out pretty quickly and everything went smoothly as usual except for a small incident towards the end of the trip where a couple of possible drug dealers tried to make it known that we were on their territory. They took two of our lunches, after parking their shiny convertible car in front of ours and getting in line with the homeless people awaiting their food. We weren't about to say no to drug dealers so we gave up the bags and bolted. One of them got a bit aggressive too. Some people have no hearts.

We spotted Jesus giving advice to Cat Woman.

Donation Drop-Off Location

2009-07-02T17:43:00.000-07:00
Lunch Bunch will be parked at/near Jet Rag on Sunday July 5th, 8-10 am to accept clothing and food donations.

Look for the Lunch Bunch logo on our car. We will try our best to park as close to Jet Rag as possible.

Check our our craigslist listing for more info: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/wan/1251203909.html

Jet Rag
8-10am
825 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 939-0528

Look for this car:

We are accepting *CLEAN* and gently worn items such as:

Jackets
Sweaters
T-shirts
Pants
*Unopened packages of underwear are desperately needed.

Food Items needed:

Thick sliced bread (texas toast style)
Mustard
Whole fruit (bananas, apples, etc.)
Juice or water bottles
Individually packaged snacks (cookies, granola, nuts, crackers, chips, etc.)