Chef Nancy Burgos-Jackson at Red Door Place. Photo by Hannah La Follette Ryan at Bon Appetit.
If you could bottle the benefits of volunteering and sell them back to New Yorkers, you would make a lot of money. That’s a very New York way of thinking about volunteering, I realize. But it is what it is. There’s something about giving your time for free in a place that puts a price on so much. It can change your perspective quicker than any self-care, medication, or creative project. I’m not saying we should all volunteer out of selfishness but if that’s what it takes for a person to try it for the first time? Go for it. The volunteer activity doesn’t care about your motivations. That’s what’s so beautiful about it. It still gives back, no matter how cynical and jaded you are, you big grinch.
This past weekend I spent a few hours volunteering at The Red Door Place, with Grace Church on Broadway. I’m very lucky to serve on the vestry at Grace. A former vestry member suggested me when he rolled off. He realized I had strategic communications experience and that’s always valuable. Thanks, Jason! (I first met Jason when I volunteered with Grace at Habitat for Humanity. We helped to renovate a house for a refugee family in Queens. He and his wife Sara were very nice to me when I first arrived in New York back in 2018. I felt like I’d found a community on those days renovating those houses. Jason also still reads this newsletter and I appreciate him a lot 🙏).
I was one of dozens of willing volunteers to show up this past Saturday. I’ve had a busy week or three, meeting deadlines on various projects. My family and I will be out of town for the holiday so there is a lot to get ready before we go. Amidst that stress, I knew serving other people for a few hours would be good for me. I also wanted to help, of course. But. You know. #NewYorker.
The Red Door Place runs a food pantry for New Yorkers in need on Tuesdays, and they serve a meal on Saturdays. It’s under the Church of the West Village on West 13th Street. I found my home in the kitchen there fast. Chef Nancy Burgos-Jackson and her sous-chef Franco needed a “busser.” I washed dishes in an industrial kitchen, my first job out of high school. I knew that I could bus. Nancy suggested I take off my fancy J-Crew sweater unless I wanted pot juice all over it. I did as she ordered, and got stuck in.
Chef Nancy works as an executive chef, five days a week, and volunteers her time at Red Door on Saturdays. My job was to carry the food she’d cooked out to the service area, bring back empty trays, and communicate. I had to make sure Chef Nancy had enough food ready in anticipation, and I had to move fast. We served more than 400 meals over a three-hour period. Chef Nancy’s philosophy is simple. People who eat at the Red Door Place should feel like they’re in a restaurant without getting the bill. She doesn’t know when her people are going to eat again, but today, they’re going to eat the best meal in the world.
It’s a simple philosophy but the whole kitchen runs to Nancy’s tune. Puerto Rican and Spanish, she grew up in New York and has the best of the city’s energy. New York is a place where people from all over the world come to be the best or worst version of themselves. The only thing you must do is choose.
Thanks to Chef Nancy, her colleague Theresa, and all those at The Red Door Place for having us. I got to be a good person for the day, and that’s a priceless gift for anyone at Christmas.
