May
23rd marks the 2nd "Rock Soup"
event.
Our first event was held June 1, 2003 and we had over 500 people in attendance. But the work doesn't stop there. We need the whole community to work with us to continue "stirring the pot."
Last year's event:
Mark your calendars
Rock Soup
May 23, 2004 Noon
to 5 p.m.
Kaiser's Rockwood Site, 19500 E. Burnside, Gresham, OR
@ the Ruby Junction MAX Station
Click here to see the Program, listing the agencies and schedule of events for Rock Soup. (PDF)
The
Story of Stone Soup goes something like this
A neighborhood is
poverty-stricken and residents have meager rations and no food to spare.
A traveler comes into town asking for a meal, but no one has food to
offer him. "Could you spare the use of a pot and a water
spigot?" he asks. "I think I will make some stone
soup!" The neighbors watched in confusion as the man put a
large pot of water over the fire, threw in a stone and stirred away while
exclaiming how good his stone soup would taste.
One neighbor steps up & offers her opinion. "That soup
needs a little seasoning which I can spare & it will taste
better." Another resident puzzled by the traveler's soup said,
"Maybe a few small bit of these greens from my garden will make it
edible." One by one each neighbor found one small ingredient to
add.
By the time the
soup was boiled, the soup provided a complete meal to feed the community.
ROCK SOUP goes
something like this A neighborhood
is facing hard times and residents are holding on to what they have left,
with no hope of it getting better anytime soon. Home values are
declining and crime is on the rise. While neighbors are thinking
about putting up "for sale" signs, many groups are working
behind the scenes to improve the neighborhood. However, two main
ingredients are needed from the neighbors - support and hope.
Once each year,
somehow these groups convince the neighbors, to give hope a
chance just for 5 minutes! Instead of staying hopeless in their homes, the
residents go to a gathering place in the community and find groups who are
working to do just what the neighborhood needs. They find answers to
questions about what can be done for specific problems and they find they
too might have ingredients they can add. With one small ingredient
that each resident gives the hope & support grow.
By the time residents add ingredients that they can all share, Rockwood learns to rebuild the community!
The day before: Ribbits & Freddie, Rose City/Shriner Clowns telling Rockwood about ROCK SOUP w/help from the Mult. Hot Rod Council!
Entertainment: Home of God's Choir
Sponsors for 2004: We update this list as more donations come in!
Kaiser Permanente, Portland General Electric, Drake's 7 Dee's Nursery, Mt. Hood Community College, Workforce Connections Program, Original Taco House, Starbucks @ Civic Center, Gresham Outlook, Gresham Neon Signs, Albertson's of 182nd & Glisan, McDonald's, Gresham Elks, Total Rental Center, Rockwood Weed and Seed Program, Reynolds School District
Volunteer Efforts from each social service agency in attendance, Brenda Butler, Angie & Eugene Hayes, Reynolds Honor Society Students, and many others.
