The Power of Radical Hospitality, One Burrito at a Time

We recently received the following note from Leslie Routson at Hope Ministries:

Hi Joe! I am a new fan of Urban Bicycle Food Ministry because of this awesome story:

I work for Hope Ministries. At lunch at our Door of Faith men’s life recovery housing facility a week or so ago, I was talking with a self-described “street kid” named Aaron who is clean and sober for the first time in his life. He said he lived through this entire harsh winter in a tent near the river. There were many nights that he assumed he wouldn’t wake up in the morning. One especially cold night, your group came to him on bicycles and gave him 2 burritos and a blanket. He said he is positive that that blanket and the hope your team gave him got him through the night and completely changed his outlook on street life. Shortly after, he was robbed of his tent and walked directly to Bethel Mission for a bed. After a couple of weeks he decided it wasn’t worth living like he had been and joined our year-long life recovery program. He is currently in month 2 at Door of Faith, encouraged and sober and working the program. He’s an awesome and inspirational guy and I am overwhelmingly grateful you helped him live. What a blessing your group is to our neighbors in need. Grateful to work alongside you to care for God’s children.

Week of September 24, 2020

Here are a couple of quick hitters for this week:

  • As the weather continues to cool, we know that our time to make food outside is getting limited.  Please know that we are planning to continue serving those in need during the cooler parts of the fall, this winter and into the spring.  The board and I are looking at a number of alternatives and have landed on one that we think will work.  Please give us a bit more time to vet out the plans.  Once we get them finalized, I will let you know.

  • Thank you to:

    • Mike Crall and his co-workers at the Principal Financial Group.  Mike organized a drive that collected 9 cases of water, granola bars, feminine hygiene products, wet wipes and AA batteries. 

    • Ez Sorenson for donating water, blankets and toilet paper last week. 

  • Congratulations to Kaylee Kime for being voted the Homecoming Queen for Southeast Polk Schools this past week. Kaylee and her family are faithful and regular attendees to UBFM.

  • Finally, please keep Paul Black in your thoughts and prayers.  Paul is a UBFM regular who is currently in the hospital.  He was in intensive care for a pre-existing health condition and pneumonia.  Although he is in a regular room, he still has a ways to go for recovery.

I hope to see you all of you as we make our PBJs outside the church, have the church make burritos and we give them all away.

Blessings!

Needs of the week

Remember, UBFM does NOT require you to donate anything but your time.  If you want to provide any of the following, it is greatly appreciated.  Here's the items that are most desired by the people we serve:  

  • Blankets

  • Chemical Hand Warmers

  • Batteries

  • Toilet Paper

Signing up to serve

Please let us know if you will be at UBFM either via return email or by Facebook.
  
Here are the Facebook links to the event:

  • Food Prep:            Link 

  • Deliver Burritos:    Link

Weekly UBFM Update - June 21, 2020

From Amy: Sorry I missed adding a few of the weekly updates here. I hope all is well, and be sure to reach out if you have any questions!

From Joe:

Hello UBFMers

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, grand dads, surrogate dads and anyone of you who has been a "dad" to someone during your life.  Thank you for being there and making a difference.

Speaking of being there, I wasn't last week.  I took the weekend off and completely forgot about sending out a weekly update.  So this one will be for the last two weeks!

  • Reopening Plans...Update:

    • The UBFM Board and I continue to look for alternative locations where we can restart our operations.  We've had great discussions with a couple organizations that look/looked promising.  We are continuing to talk to them and also looking at other options as well.  

    • Thank you to a number of UBFMers who made contact with and researched possible reopen locations.

    • I hope that we will have an answer sooner vs. later on our reopening date.

  • Looking to "do something"?:

    • Just because UBFM isn't able to get out and serve doesn't mean you can't.  I've seen lots of emails and Facebook posts from many who are making a difference by buying a meal for a homeless person or making a bunch of food and giving it all away.  Every little bit helps those in need.  Please remember to let UBFM know what you do!

  • Finances: 

    • We are currently holding our own on finances, even as we continue to give $650 a week to Joppa to serve those in need.  We have noticed a downturn in those donations.  If you are able to help support UBFM, please use the Paypal link on the UBFMDSM.COM website or forward a check or money order to our post office box listed at the bottom of the email.. 

  • General News: 

    • We've had a couple of Zoom meetings the past few weeks and have picked up some reopening ideas.  We will continue to have them from time to time IF we are unable to open in the near future.

  • Volunteers:

    • Thank you to all those who continue to volunteer for Joppa, Team Tough and who are making a difference in your own special way.

    • If you are looking for ways to volunteer, please:

      • Click on this link to explore options with Joppa.  They are in need of some help in many ways.

      • Let UBFM know via email or on Facebook

Until next week, blessings and peace.

Weekly UBFM Update - May 17, 2020

Hello again UBFMers.

Last week, my Facebook exploded with UBFM memories from the past five years. Those memories reminded me how I miss all of you and what we do.  It also caused me to pause and remember that this season will not last forever,  that UBFM will come back stronger and we will again be able to serve those in need.

Update:

  • Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! - One "thank you" does not express my gratitude! Each week, financial donations continue to flow in to support what we do for those in need...and they make a difference.  UBFM believes money received is not ours.  That is why we continue to provide $650 a week to Joppa.  With it, Joppa purchases non-perishable food to deliver to the homeless on Sunday for use on Thursday.  

  • Zoom Meeting - It was hectic last week and I was unable to get this set up.  I'll get one set up for later this week!

  • Board Meeting - We have our scheduled meeting set for 6:30 PM on 21 May.  I'll provide an update next week.  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please let me know via return email.

  • Volunteer Opportunities - Looking for ways to help?  Here are some options:

    • Bike Assistance - There are two vets looking for bikes.  One is for an adult.  The other is for a 5 year old daughter of a vet.  The daughter has medical issues and needs to keep her legs active.

    • Joppa continue to need help each Sunday.  Please contact Kim Roush at kim.roush@joppa.org.

    • See someone in need of food, consider buying them a sandwich, chips and a bottle of water at a local convenience store.  This small act of kindness means much to that person (as well as you!)

    • Serve Food - Robby Collier could use one or two more people to help make and serve food starting at 4:00 on Thursdays. Please contact Robby via Facebook Messenger or reply email...I'll forward your name to Robby.

  • Shout out time!

    • Last week, I heard from Sarah and Clayton Bunch that they volunteer at Joppa each Sunday.  Sarah wrote "Clayton & I have been volunteering every Sunday with Joppa.  It’s an amazing & humbling experience - we highly recommend it to anyone considering it!

    • Continued thanks to Kim Field, Deb Feick, Janet Whiteside,  Dick and  Janet Farrell, Robby Collier and his small but dedicated team, Joyce and Bill Shackelford, Curt Carlson and all those I've not mentioned.

Until next time, be safe, blessings and peace.

Joe

Update Regarding COVID-19 and UBFM

From Joe Laslo, our chief burrito slinger:

The UBFM Board of Directors and I met Thursday night via web-conference.  I'm happy to say that we have a short term plan that we feel is workable, will keep our volunteers and those we serve safe and continue to feed those in need:

  • UBFM will continued to suspend operations through the week of 14 April.  This is for the safety of our volunteers and those we serve. We also feel it prudent and wise to follow the latest request by our state's leadership.

  • During this time, we will donate $650 each week to Joppa, asking them to purchase and deliver non-perishable foods in lieu of food we would have delivered on Thursday nights.  We made this decision for three reasons:

    1. Joppa continues to serve the homeless and food insufficient each Sunday from their new facility.  From this facility, Joppa is able to safely prepare and deliver food to those in need.

    2. We feel strongly as a board that the money we receive in donations is not UBFM's money.  Rather, it is money that belongs to the homeless and it does no one any good sitting in a bank.

    3. We want to do something for those in need.

As we move through the next several weeks and months, the board and I make the following commitments to you.  We will:

  • Continue to keep you up to date on UBFM by providing a weekly update.  In it, we will provide as much information as we can.  You should receive that email on Sunday afternoon.

  • Continue to work on a long term plan, one that will allow us to hit the streets of Des Moines again on our bikes and in our cars.  

  • Be back as soon as we can. We don’t know when that is and we hope it will be soon.  When we do get back on the streets, we believe there will be more people in need due to the potential downturn in the economy. 

Many of you may be disappointed with this decision.  We understand. We are just as disappointed because we want to get out and serve those in need as much as you do.  We are a servant at heart just like you.  

We also know this is the right thing to do in the short term given the circumstances.

Many of you also want to help in some way.  Along with the positive thoughts and prayers, there is one way to make a difference right now.  If you are able, would you consider making a one time or ongoing monetary donation to UBFM?  This will allow us to serve those in need in the short term and set us up for the restart of operations in what I hope is the not too distant future.  To make a donation, you can use PayPal or send a check to our PO box. Remember, depending on your tax situation, this may be tax deductible as UBFM is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and your consideration.

Joe Laslo
CEO & Chief Burrito Slinger
Urban Bicycle Food Ministry - Des Moines
PO Box 65201
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-710-5065
UBFMDSM.COM
FaceBook

Important Update: Suspending Activities Through the End of March

I’m sending this update tonight to inform you, with a heavy heart, that for the first time in the 5 year history of the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry - Des Moines, we will suspend our Thursday night activities to feed the homeless and food insufficient through the end of March.  Our hope is that we will continue our normal operations in early April.

This was a difficult and disappointing decision for the UBFM Board of Directors and me to make.  We talked about a number of different options of how we could continue to serve those in need and keep our volunteers safe.  Once we received word that Capitol Hill Lutheran Church was closing through the end of March, we all agreed that UBFM had to do our part to help flatten the corona virus curve by taking a short break.  We also did this to reduce the possibility of exposing you, our volunteers and those we serve to the life-taking corona virus. 

Trust me, this was a very difficult decision to make since we celebrated our 5th birthday on Thursday.

As we move forward over the next couple weeks and months, here is our commitment to you:

  • NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, UBFM is not going away.  We are only taking a break to do our part during this national emergency and until we have more information.  Our goal is to figure out the best way to help those in need without putting volunteers at risk.

  • We will continue to keep you up to date on a weekly basis as best we can.

  • Once we have a plan to begin our Thursday night activities, we will let you know.

Blessings and peace to all of you!

Joe Laslo
Chief Burrito Slinger
Urban Bicycle Food Ministry - Des Moines

UBFM Turns Three Years Old

PRESS RELEASE

Announcing the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry – Des Moines Third Anniversary Celebration on Thursday 15 March 2018

Our Mission: Radical Hospitality One Burrito at a Time

Each Thursday evening for the last three years, regardless of the weather, Urban Bicycle Food Ministry volunteers prepare and deliver hundreds of burritos and sandwiches to the homeless and food insufficient in Des Moines.  

“From our bikes and cars, we serve food and hand out clothing and personal care items.  Most importantly we build relationships with people who are often overlooked and marginalized,” says Joe Laslo, CEO.  

UBFM has served more than 75,000 burritos and sandwiches over the last three years.

“The love of bicycling and serving those in need has led to dramatic growth in our bicycle food ministry,” says Laslo. “When we are on bikes, sharing food and building relationships is more personal.”

The Urban Bicycle Food Ministry – Des Moines is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.  It is interfaith and non-denominational, intended to serve those in need. 

Meals and supplies are prepared at Capitol Hill Lutheran Church, 515 Des Moines Street in downtown Des Moines.  Each Thursday an average of 50 volunteers prepare food and serve the homeless and food insufficient on eight routes.

The ministry is funded entirely by donations and supported by volunteers. 

To volunteer, donate or learn more about the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry – Des Moines: visit our website: www.ubfmdsm.com, visit our Facebook page: Urban Bicycle Food Ministry – Des Moines, or contact CEO Joe Laslo: ubfm.dsm@gmail.com

We now accept donations online!

You can now donate to UBFM Des Moines on our website. Select the Take Action link in the upper right corner of our page. There you will find a donate link. You can make a donation through PayPal using a credit card or your PayPal account. Every dollar you donate pays for approximately 2 burritos we can share with those in needs. 

Other ways you can donate include:

  • Give of your time on a Thursday. Help us prepare and/or join us on our routes
  • Bring donations to Capitol Hill Lutheran Church on Thursday evenings or contact us for other drop-off options. 
  • Donate gently used coats, hats, and gloves in the winter
  • Donate bug spray in the summer
  • Donate batteries (AA and AAA), water, fruit, and toilet paper all year long