Tuesday morning dawned sunny and cool here in Chicago. Some of us absolutely love this weather, while others are shivering and reaching for jackets. Despite a late night, we were up and at 'em bright and early, and made our way to the Newberry Center. Founded in 1883 by the women of the First United Methodist Church of Evanston, the Center provides a range of services and programs to low-income families -- including meals and child care for children whose parents are working.
We arrived, got set up in the gym, and then spent some time playing with some of the kids.
They even taught us some of their dance moves:
Thanks to Mary Flora, we learned a fun circle game that uses an Afghan folk tune and 3 rolling balls in a sort of musical dodge ball of sorts. The people in the circle sing, and when the tune shifts - they start rolling balls to try and hit the person standing in the center. 3 hits and you're out! Some of the VIPs have fancy footwork! Here's Petri:
Then, we got to work on different tasks around the Center. Some VIPs scrubbed walls, while others weeded or used a saw to cut tree limbs.
When the work was done, we presented a concert for the kids and the Center's Children's Choir - the Newberry Kids - performed for us. They performed several sacred pieces and closed with a memorable rendition of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." (We're working to upload the video.) We had a great time singing, dancing, and playing with these young Chicagoans.
After our time at Newberry, it was back to the hotel for a lunch of Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza - a Chicago tradition.
We had a quiet afternoon - some VIPs hit the hotel pool while others paid a visit to the Sky Chapel at First UMC at Chicago Temple. They had a bird's eye view of the city and got to see the Stanley Cup on display on the plaza below. Many of the girls went shopping (no surprise there) while the Senior Guys worked on the Tour song.
The HS VIPs met up at 4:30pm to head to Holy Covenant UMC to serve at their Dignity Diner, which takes place every Tuesday. Homeless and hungry individuals are welcomed to a sit-down meal in the church's sanctuary. The VIP High Schoolers became waiters and waitresses, and were joined by the Middle Schoolers to present a post-dinner concert. The VIPs sang well and many of the diners stayed to listen -- something that the Diner organizers say doesn't always happen.
This setting proved to be a difficult one for some VIPs -- the sound of the El train outside, the street traffic pouring in through the open windows and some... very involved participants made for a challenging performance environment. VIP works hard to succeed in every situation and in these types of situations, our training is put to the test.
After the concert, the group visited Portillo's for dinner and celebrated Elizabeth's 17th Birthday. VIP's traditional birthday hat seems to be missing so we replaced it with a Chicago baseball cap in Elizabeth's favorite color - pink!
