The Good News
Los Altos United Methodist Women
Behind the Kitchen Door -UMW Program for June
How do restaurant workers live on some of the lowest
wages in America? And how do poor working conditions—discriminatory labor practices, exploitation, and
unsanitary kitchens—affect the meals that arrive at our
restaurant tables? Los Altos UMW will address these
issues at the June meeting. Based upon the book, Behind the Kitchen Door: What Every Diner Should Know
About the People Who Feed Us, the program will include a three member panel featuring: Sophie Cheng
who works with the Restaurant Opportunities Center of
Los Angeles (ROC), a national restaurant workers organization launched after 9/11 by the book’s author
Saru Jayaraman; Joanna Concepcion from the Filipino
Migrant Center who will discuss wage theft in Long
Beach; and restaurant owner Ray Mullio who has been
rewarded with the loyalty and friendship of his employees for providing them with medical coverage, fair
wages and opportunities for advancement.
Together, the panel will discuss the problems facing
restaurant workers and also describe salient considerations we, as consumers, need to take into account
when we patronize restaurants. The varied perspectives of the presenters will help us to
better understand the complexities of
the restaurant business and how to
make wise choices when dining out.
Time for dialogue with those in attendance is built into the program, and a few
copies of the book, Behind the Kitchen
Door, will be available for purchase. All
are welcome to attend.
Spotlight on UMW
Los Altos UMW thrives on the energy
of people like Irene Hale. Irene
spends Sunday mornings at Belmont
Heights UMC, Tuesday mornings at the
ESL Breakfast Club, and Thursdays
twice monthly with her UMW sisters in Unit meetings
and Lydia Circle. Irene taught Kindergarten for 30
years in largely Cambodian schools of Long Beach USD
before retiring and has cultivated an appreciation for
the contributions of immigrant communities. Her
knowledge of our City and its many resources is encyclopedic, and she shares the knowledge freely with anyone who asks.
Irene and her husband Andy were married in the First
Methodist Church, now the Neighborhood Church, at
5th and Pacific. Members there for over 50 years, they
moved to Belmont Heights when 1st Methodist closed.
Andy has been a Boy Scout leader for 57 years, and
continues with his troops of Cub and Boy Scouts at the
Neighborhood Church, newly filled with the children of
Breakfast Club students. Husband and wife are
“parents” to hundreds of students who now have children of their own continuing the traditions of scouting
and scholarship.
In the face of several health challenges, Irene has retained her infectious laugh, her gusto for life, and her
willingness to fight for what she believes to be true
and just. She and Andy are the parents of Amanda
Thomas, parents-in-law to Jim, and grandparents to
Andrew, Lily and Sophia, all of whom share a common
legacy of love for family on the grandest of scales.
Book Review
If ever there were a provocative title, it
is Good God, Lousy World, and Me.
Written by Holly Burkhalter, a renowned
human rights activist who testifies frequently before Congress on behalf of
oppressed people around the world, it
takes us on the roller-coaster ride of her faith journey. Holly grew up in a Midwestern church, lost her
faith, witnessed genocides and slavery, and came back
around thanks to the examples of Christian co-workers
and her dog Fala. Upon reading the book, one Church
member was inspired to write a letter of thanks to Holly, whom he had known as a young girl in Ohio. Chosen by UMW as part of our reading program, this page
-turner will make you laugh, cry, and marvel.
More on April’s UMW Program
California legislators are considering
a package of 24 bills aimed at improving the state’s support network
for aging services and long-term
care. Many of the proposed reforms
are based on a Senate committee’s
report titled, "A Shattered System: Reforming the Aging and Long Term Care
System in California". Included among the 24 bills
is SB 19 that would require the establishment of a
statewide California Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Registry as discussed during
our April UMW meeting. For more information, contact Mary Larson at [email protected] or
562-296-8521.
President’s Letter
Mary Larson’s stirring presentation, Why Your
Living Will Is Not Enough, on May 7, spoke to
each of us, no matter what our age or health
condition. When she stopped for a few minutes to have
us talk about our personal experiences with end-of-life
choices, every single person had a story to tell. Although articulating our preferences in this area does not
make for light conversation, we can save ourselves and
our loved ones considerable agony by taking a deep
breath now and planning ahead. Mary has provided us
the tools: I challenge all of us to stop, reflect, and follow up. Living with the end in mind can be remarkably
freeing.
How do we go forward from here? In his “Letter from a
Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that
“injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects
one directly, affects all indirectly.” That “beautiful struggle” is as urgent today as it was when King was alive.
However, you may sometimes feel saturated, as I do,
with causes to support, letters to write, phone calls to
initiate, and meetings to attend. Too much, too draining!
A wise friend reminded me of the words of a Buddhist
nun, Pema Chödrön, who speaks of the necessity of
making friends with ourselves by being gentle, feeling
good heartedness toward ourselves. Taking time to be
gentle with myself allows me to be gentle with others
and to see clearly what I need to do. Sometimes that
means deleting an e-mail, saying no to an invitation, or
staying home with my flute instead of attending a meeting. I hope you will make priorities of treating yourself
gently, contemplating your own important life decisions,
and resting up for the beautiful struggle. Jane Barboza