http://frenchtoastandhugs.com/docs/pages/event_eleven.html
it was an amazing moment that had torrential rain leading up to the perfect day. this may sound familiar to you all because the same thing happened for ftx santa monica, ftx echo park and now ftx downtown. whether or not the ftx events are rescheduled they always land on just the right day. which is something i am taking with me into my personal life – allowing things the respect and space to work out in their own time.
also please go here to get a look at the current ftx roster:
http://frenchtoastandhugs.com/docs/pages/about.html
you’ll see the 4 newest additions in our growing gang. i have so many new stone cold recruits in mind, the only thing holding me back is getting those darn shirts made in time!!!! but until then….
we proudly welcome into our ranks:
FTX #50 – HOWIE MUZIKA
who’s character, humor & heart are so big that his name has become a description. yeah that’s right – JUST like Hitchcockian, Lynchian & Beatle-esque, now we’ve got HOWIE-AN. or spelled something like that!! i’ll leave it up to the man himself.
FTX #51 – KEN RICHARDSON
i’ve known ken since i was a metalhead in high school. ken schooled ME in the ways of king diamond, slayer and other mind twisting music. but in life his actions taught me about loyalty, love and the strength of wearing your heart on the outside. he is truly one of my heroes in life and it’s been a long time coming for him to be in this gang. we are only stronger because of it.
FTX #81 – LEAH HARDSTARK
now leah is an interesting recruit. for years she was not wanting to join because she still had to decide if ftx was something she could put her name behind. her name and more importantly her heart. i have learned a hard lesson in my life before – to never force somebody to do something just because you thought it’d be “good” for them. to allow people the respect to define their life just as i strive to define mine. so i let her decision sit. but when i asked her recently if she was still wanting to be out of the gang she told me that she had thought about it and decided this was something that she believed in. i respect the stone cold time she took to decide that and gratefully welcome her in.
FTX #110 – BRANDY NIGHTINGALE
i am fortunate enough to be able to call brandy nightingale my girlfriend. but in truth i would have settled for friend from this great person. brandy didn’t get in because of me, she got in because of her. i have known her for going on my 6th year and am impressed greater and greater as i see her work to make herself the woman that she wants to become. thru her own actions and accepting the help of the good people in this world she has made herself someone who you can count on, someone who stands for and means something. in a world where there will always be slim pickings for this type of person, she is someone that is an example for me. someone that i believe in. she will always be FTX #110.
please check out her own site here:
http://www.amorselofwisdom.com/
and so FTX DOWNTOWN. what can i write or compare – to me each event is unique and none better than the other. but i do know that this one was different. i had the benefit of having scouted the location for months. i was ready for the long lines of people already cued and waiting for us, for anyone, to arrive. my friends most likely were not.
a week of threatening rain eventually diminished into nothing more than a soft and sunny day. the faith of my close friends who had no doubt that it wouldn’t rain created faith within myself. and faith and belief, things that no one can take away from you once you have them (in truth i believe they can only be given away) got us to and thru the day. there, i know, were people who were nervous about such close interaction with the people we drive past everyday. i was one of them. but in the end the chance of rain worried me more than the people. for me, for some intangible reason (faith again?), i believed that everything was going to be ok. i believe in the power of love, i believe in the power of serving, i believe in the power of communication, i believe in the power of carbohydrates! ☺
so let me tell you a story.
i don’t have any amazing story of me and someone down there in line. truth be told when i’m cooking french toast i don’t often look up until the whole thing is all done. i do know we fed between 400 – 450 people. i do know that we outlasted downtown los angeles and that a line that went for 5 hours was gone when we left. i do know that a handful of friends did all that.
my story is about two of those people.
on the day of the event i had a few people arrive at my downtown loft to meet up, clean and cut the fruit and head on out to downtown los angeles. we were supposed to be at 6th & towne at 8am that sunny sunday morning. but we were running late. now not too late mind you, no excuses but come on, we were about 10 minutes after 8 when the call came in. it was from ftx #49, brother dalton. now dalton is almost 15 years old and he and his dad bret were coming from over 50 miles away in corona, california. he was wondering where we were. i told him we were minutes away and in his direct way acknowledged my lame excuse and said he was waiting. well when we got there he immediately asked what he could do. i gave him the job of dunking the bred into the batter and putting it on the grill because truth be told, it makes my life so much easier. this ftx we had two grills (thanks to mary, christian & FTX #32 luke) and a second griller – FTX #38 mr. henry cline! i at some point noticed that dalton had one of his plastic food gloves over a CAST. that’s right, he worked for 5 hours straight with a cast on his arm. not only that but as the line moved slowly past him he took all the praise, teasing and sometimes rude behavior from the various people in stride. he was calm, cool, collected. in the words of daisy mae, he was stone cold.
the second person is gloria from diamond bakery on fairfax & beverly. now gloria doesn’t know me from adam but she does have a righteous soul. the week before ftx downtown i went scouting all over – hollywood, glendale, tarzana for the best challah bred i could find. all were good but it was her heart that won me over to choose her bakery. the day that i entered the store i told her i was planning to buy around 40 to 50 loaves of challah bred the next week. she asked why i was buying so many and i told her a group of friends of mine were going to get together to feed the homeless the following weekend rain permitting (this was when i was still lacking weather forecast faith!). she laughed and waved off the rain (and i have no doubt SHE has the power to do this) but it was her face that moved me. her mouth dropped a little and i could see her eyes go all soft. she leaned in close and in an unintentional whisper asked me “you do this? just you go out and do this??” to which i replied “no. we go out and do this. my friends and me.”
she asked me what my name was and i told her. still leaned in, still whispering, she told me that we had re-established her belief in the good of mankind! to which she added that she would give me a healthy discount on the bred as she simultaneously stuffed a chocolate pastry in my palm. embarrassed i moved to get out of the bakery as quickly as i could, but not having been raised by a jewish mother i had no idea how outgunned i was. before i could leave she insisted she give me a kiss on my cheek and as i hustled out the door she yelled behind me “shyam! i love you!”.
in truth that is all still embarrassing for me to write to so many of you but the message i’ve learned from it in life is that if someone, a complete stranger no less, embraces your heart, well then there is probably a good chance you’re doing the right thing.
i want to thank all of you who have tirelessly embraced my heart. i never expected to have as much with my life.
i never would without you.
….
anyhow that’s enough from me but how about something from you?
if you were at ftx downtown or even if not but have something to say, i would really appreciate it if you would write one story of the event. please post it on the ftx website blog under this story that i’ve written using the “leave a reply” option. also if you have any photos of the event please email or mail them to me. usually the only way i can see what happened is thru your pictures and i really appreciate them.
i have posted a few of the ones i have on the ftx blog.
http://frenchtoastandhugs.com/?p=104
until the next ftx i wish you all the best.
shyam
please share your stories here!
thanks!
shyam
I had gone to two FTX events in the past: Santa Monica and Echo Park. Both events were cool, but I really didn’t help out much. I showed up late, stood around, ate some French toast, talked to the couple people I knew. My friend Shyam, who I’ve known since 1990 when we met working at the CSUN Student Union swimming pool, was always very busy cooking for everyone.
I always privately thought that I would be 100% down with FTX if it fed the homeless and was very pleased to hear Shyam’s plan to do this downtown this time around. I was a little intimidated but committed to showing up early and helping out.
I was happy to realize that morning that my limited edition black FTX shirt hadn’t shrunk as much as I thought it had and still fit me! I get so many compliments on the shirt; I feel a little bad that Shyam decided not to make more, yet I appreciate the gesture so much at the same time.
Shyam’s sister Tara lives less than a mile away from me and invited me to car pool with her that morning. I took her up on the offer and we arrived at Shyam’s loft sometime after 7am. Everyone was already there cutting fruit so I just hung out until it was time to go. I drove with Messrob and Howie downtown, and as our caravan pulled up to the curb where we were going to be serving, a line was already forming.
I was blown away by how many homeless people were in line for food. The line stretched further down the street than I could see. I had no idea it would be like this. I was shocked. This event really opened my eyes to the reality of how many homeless people there really are in this rich country of ours, even just in one area of Los Angeles. With our economy the way it is right now, and with thousands of veterans coming home from our wars in the Middle East not being taken care of, it’s only going to get worse.
I was asked early on to help out with putting toppings on the French toast and once I took my place in the assembly line, I didn’t want to stop. I think I had the best place in the line because I got to ask people what they wanted and then hand them their plates. Shyam told me earlier that what was important was eye contact and making a connection, and he was absolutely right. I probably over-did it with the whipped cream as we ran out pretty early on. But I felt that an extra dose of whipped cream put an even bigger smile on more than a few people’s faces. Who knows the last time they had something so good! I’m a whipped cream fan and can’t remember the last time I even had any.
I was moved by the gratitude I witnessed time and time again as people moved through the line. Many said “God bless you!” and “Thank you guys for doing this!” I was blown away the entire day by how cool the people were, but one man’s exclamation of “God bless you, God bless America!” was the highlight. How a person living on the streets in America can have such feelings is beyond me. It says a lot about the human spirit. That’s a lot of forgiveness. More than I think I would have. I was beyond moved.
A few friends told me prior to the event that it would be very rewarding doing this, but I had no idea how I’d feel. I had so much fun the entire time. It wasn’t work. It was an absolute pleasure. Everyone was cool, and the team vibe was very inspiring. I came out of it knowing that I wanted to do more. The truth is that so many of us are just a paycheck away from the street. Community is so important. Being there for each other when times get tough.
My pay was cut 20% last week. I know it’s going to be hard to get by, but thinking of these people standing in line downtown for food and their positive energy, despite the hardships they must face everyday, inspires me to not feel so bad about it. I’ll figure it out. Things are going to get a lot worse for all of us as the economic downturn continues to downturn. I hope that with this new President, we can begin to think about each other and not just ourselves. I’m just as guilty of it as anyone else.
Thanks Shyam, for putting the time, money and energy into this. You are the man. I always knew you were, but FTX Downtown LA proved it to me all over again.
On the way home, Tara and I talked politics for the first time ever. I had always avoided the subject with her because I knew we were in opposing parties. But I noticed as we were talking about the homeless situation, that we agreed on so many things, so I just took the plunge and asked what our differences really were. Turns out there aren’t many after all. I’m glad we talked about it. I think our country has a lot of healing to do and that Sunday morning was a good example for me of a few things that need to happen.
And I have faith that they will.
trevin,
Thanks for your thoughts, thanks for your help and thanks for sharing such a wonderful insight into your experiences at ftx 12.
I stood by you for much of that morning, deeply immersed in my own world of ft. I thought you were amazing at your commitment and as Shyam commented earlier, when I saw the cast, I nearly lost it.
It is hard to really put together my feelings for that event. One thing I know is that afterward I felt a incredible sense of exhaustion mixed with elation. The entire rest of the day felt like I had experienced so much in such a short amount of time. I had given of myself freely, I had seen such hardship and anger and mistrust and love and affection and a sense of hope. It was an emotional roller coaster.
Most of all I felt a deep and continued love of the people that help put these events together. I was taken and remarked to Shyam that whenever a gang member has a question, they go to Shyam, like “do you think we need to get more syrup”, and the truth is that Shyam has no idea, his whole being is invested in making french toast as fast and as carefully and as filled with love as possible. So, the people, us, the gang, do whatever it is that we need to do. it all gets done and it all gets done with love an respect and conscientiousness. This is a great template for how I want to be in the world. This harsh and decaying world that we are experiencing right now in history, Shyam has known all along what we need. Just a little more french toast and hugs.
Shyam has such an amazing soul,filled with so much to give to others.I am proud to say I went last years French Toast during my chemo during treatments battling breast cancer.I went knowing that what I would witness there is truly all about the real meaning of life.Shyam was giving out love in the purest form possible,unconditionally.He made sure that everyone was feed no matter who or where you came from.He has brought his amazing team together to help him complete this generous act of kindness of feeding everyone with love,hope and goodness from his French Toast.
This act shows true compassion for humankind in every possible way.I was so sorry I could not make this recent event downtown.The photo of the line up tells the story clearly.Shyam and his team made a difference to many others needy souls.You made them feel like they mattered and were noticed in this world.You in my eyes have always been a person who is quiet but has the loudest heart one who bear,meaning it shouts “Let’s do something good,gather around!”
I am so proud of you.You are a true example of inspiration that if you really want to make a difference ,you can.I too live for the moment of now for that is all that truly exists before us.
Some of the blessing through cancer is that you live for the day of now,and you walk with an open heart filled with awe witnessing the simple pleasures in everyday life moments.
Thanks for sharing your story of French Toast with me.I will never forget that someone out there does care about others and wants nothing in return for it.
May you and your team be surrounded by love,laughter and great health always.
all the best,Cristina
What started out to be a rainy week ended up wit a big blue beautiful sky…. not a cloud on site.
I was at my dads for the weekend but woke extra early to get to FTX downtown…
I was a bit worried cause recently i had broken my wrist in a compound fracture and had my splint still on..
but no worries i grabbed a pair of gloves slid them on and started feeding the line of over 500 PEOPLE!!!!!!
This FTX was crazy the line wrapped around the block and we actually needed caution tape. But overall one of the best I’ve been to….
Hoping to go to the one in Philly!!!!!!!
as an undergrad at usc, i helped serve food downtown with the usc catholic center. we would go one evening a week and either give sandwiches we made or food left over from the football team. (the players sure ate well even during the years when they were losing most games.) we had a great time; always felt safe and welcomed.
i’d love to help at the next l.a. ftx event.
korey i’ve added you to our ftx invite list!
i will keep you posted on our upcoming events.
the next los angeles one should be sometime in
the fall of this year.
good job on serving food downtown with the usc catholic center!
i’m sure i could learn some pointers from you! 🙂
i’m really happy that you would want to help us
out too! thank you so much.
shyam
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.
thanks sandra!
if you want to you can sign up for updates on the french toast & hugs gang at:
http://www.frenchtoastandhugs.com
all the best to you.
shyam