From Marilyn Schirk:
Stop by the Portland Subud house after women’s latihan on the last Tuesday of the month and you will find a dedicated crew cooking up vegan dishes for Subud member Jennifer Skyler to serve to members of Portland’s houseless community, truly Portland’s “poorest of the poor”. All this autumn and winter we have been supporting Jennifer’s inspired work by providing warm food options for folks who are trying to stick to a vegan diet in the face of all of the other difficulties of living on the street. Although most of the food served by Jennifer and other volunteers at Director Park in downtown Portland is non-vegan, the mission is to serve a warm meal to anyone who needs it every night of the week.
Jennifer was deeply moved by the suffering she witnessed several years ago among people living in such precarious circumstances in Portland. She decided to try to help out by volunteering with a grassroots group called Free Hot Soup. She and her fiancé Greg have taken responsibility for providing free warm meals two to three nights a week for an average of 100 people a night. Despite the expense and struggles involved, Jennifer and Greg have persisted in their commitment to feed Portland’s hungry, and are making a real difference for local people in extreme need.
Jennifer is expanding her vision in Portland to take on larger issues facing the community. She has created a 501c3 organization called “Beautiful Portland” to help build a more inclusive city that better meets the needs of all of its citizens. She is supported in her work by Susila Dharma USA and is now one of our sponsored projects. If you would like to learn more about Jennifer’s work, or help her by making a donation, please feel free to email her at: jenniferskyler@yahoo.com.