Monday, December 14, 2009

no freezer space? no problem!


"distribution time at the salvation army during christmas is a time of tremendous pressure and stress; there's not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that has to be done. the pressure isn't only on the officers, but the staff and the volunteers who are dedicated and committed to this whole process and to getting christmas food, goods, and toys out to families. as soon as the doors close on distribution day after a big distribution it's a complete sigh of relief and everybody is just absolutely drained. 

  {photo via veer}

one year we were at a corps where we had served just under 1000 families and we were absolutely exhausted. there were a few chickens leftover and we had packed everything in the freezer that we could, but there wasn't enough room, so we had a few chickens that we couldn't get in the freezer.  this was in a real cold climate and we had an emergency egress from the basement that had a vertical ladder that you could climb to get up to the street level. there was a little paved area right inside a door and then the ladder was there, and that was what we called the cold spot because there was a grate over the top and it was secure, but it was freezer cold all winter long. so we put the chickens out there because we knew they'd be safe and they would be totally frozen. and that worked out just fine. we were exhausted, we went home, we celebrated christmas with our families. when we went back to work we of course did all the clean up and then got back into our regular routine. 

and nobody remembered to retrieve those chickens when there was room in the freezer. 
and nobody remembered later than that. 
and nobody remembered later than that.
and in may we began to notice a *ahem* bad odor in the building. we finally traced its source to the downstairs area and then finally someone opened the door.

and we remebered those chickens."


{christmas story #3 from my mom. want more? story #1 story #2}

10 comments:

  1. oh my oh my! That happened to me once when I made family dinner at my church. I had a refrigerator full of turkeys for Easter dinner and it broke over night. We ate pizza that year. :)

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  2. Yikes! I can almost smell the horror in that story. :)

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  3. LOL! This reminds me of the day my parent's king size freezer in the garage broke the day my dad had come home from a deep sea fishing trip. I can still smell the disaster till this day LOL!

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  4. Yuck! There is nothing worse than rotting chicken smell... it is kind of funny though!

    Stopping by with PEAR comment love... ~Lanie

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  5. Hi, Angie. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Dontcha just love SITS?

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  6. Oh My goodness....that's funny but kinda gross:)

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  7. A horror made worse by the smell! I can't think of anything I'd rather NOT encounter than rotting chicken. Ick!

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  8. I bet it smelled as bad as the dirty diapers I have upstairs! Great piece!

    Stopping by from SITS!

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  9. Um, yew! Gross. But that reminds me of why I want to move back east...not for saving freezer space for my chickens but I was always jealous that you could leave your beers on the back porch and they'd be super cold for you when you want them...unlike here in So. Cal.

    Hmmmm...I know what you're thinking...yes I'm a total loser.

    Great blog, stopping by from SITS. Can't wait to come back and read more.

    Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner?
    http://www.mawhats4dinner.com

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  10. I love that story! My favorite part: And nobody remembered later than that...and nobody remembered later than that..." (hee hee). I'll bet that smelled lovely!

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