MLK Workday for Backpack Lunch Program

The fifth annual MLK Remembrance and Work Day for the Northeast Portland Backpack Lunch Program is coming up on January 21. Last year’s event saw 160 volunteers packing 593 lunch sacks for needy children who are at risk of hunger on the weekends, when school lunches aren’t available. At two lunches per sack, that’s nearly 1200 lunches, all provided by donations and volunteer labor. This program is now serving children at three Northeast Portland schools and continues to grow. How many lunches will we pack this year? The 2013 event is Monday, January 21, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Woodlawn United Methodist Church, NE 15th and Dekum Street in Portland. All are welcome; there are activities for all ages. Come do a good deed, and have some fun, too.

The Day Old Pastries will again lead the music for a singalong opportunity during the short program that follows the lunch packing. Who are the Day Old Pastries? We’re a group of friends that get together to make music. We’re a little crusty, but fresh enough! We sing and play the guitar, and we’ve added mandolin and piano and some song writing, too. We have a lot of fun for a bunch of amateurs. If you look at the word amateur, you’ll notice that the root of the word is love; amateur musicians pursue music out of love for it. I won’t say we’re ever perfect, but we love what we do. I love that we’re part of this workday and celebration every year.

Before recorded music, the only way to hear music was in real time. You could go to a performance, or you could get together to make music. It was perfectly natural. Now that we have recorded standards, it’s much more intimidating to make music; we think we have to be as perfect as the music we hear. But music is so ephemeral. At the end of a song, do you remember a fleeting wrong note, or the overall feeling that was conveyed? At last year’s MLK Day event, we had 160 people singing, happy and in community with each other. Perfect! I hope you can come join us this year.