Cots for the Homeless

Written by: Kate Snyder

I never cease to be amazed by how awesome our volunteers are. We have a fantastic group of individuals who regularly give their time to EECM. They all deserve serious commendation for all that they do, but some really go above and beyond.

Take Wil, a volunteer with our homeless programs. If that name sounds familiar, it's because I've mentioned him before (click here and here). Wil regularly volunteers in our Men's Emergency Shelter and, through his interactions with EECM staff, he noticed that the shelter could really use some more camping cots.

Our shelter is licensed to house 24 men. On most nights, we shelter more like 30. We try not to turn people away if it can be avoided and so we sleep the overflow guests on cots in the dining room. But they tend to break and we were running short.

But not for long -- it's Super Wil to the rescue! Wil recruited friends and family to contribute funds to purchase new cots. He found out what type we use, ordered them, and had them shipped to EECM. And just like that, we had new cots.

I cannot say enough what an amazing gift this was. Not only because the cots are great (which they are) but because Wil made it so easy for us. He did all the work -- fundraising and ordering -- because he saw a need to be met. And we appreciate him for it.

Many thanks also to everyone who contributed money for the new cots. They're perfect!

Attorneys Against Hunger

Written by: Kate Snyder

I didn't have a chance to post this article during Have a Heart for Hunger because the donation arrived in April, but I wanted to give a special shout-out to the Allegheny County Bar Association's Attorneys Against Hunger for their great support of EECM this spring.

For the past 15 years, the Attorneys Against Hunger campaign has raised money for a variety of hunger-services providers throughout Allegheny County. This year, EECM was fortunate enough to be included in their efforts, which raised a whopping $98,000.

EECM's share of the campaign was just over $5,800. Wow!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the 2008 Attorneys Against Hunger campaign.

Stamp Out Hunger!

Written by: Kate Snyder

This coming Saturday (May 10th) is a very important day. Do you know why? Answer: Saturday is the annual National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This is the country's largest single-day food drive. In 2007, they collected and distributed more than 70 million pounds of food. Wow.

Participation is easy. All you have to do is place a bag of non-perishable food items in a bag by your mailbox and your mail carrier will pick it up. They ask that you make sure that none of your donated items have past their expiration date and please do not donate food in glass containers.

That's it. So simple! Last year, the Pittsburgh area collected 501,000 pounds of food. The food drive is run through America's Second Harvest, a national chain of food banks. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is a member of Second Harvest, and East End Cooperative Ministry in turn receives a large chunk of the food for our Food Pantry from them. So by participating in Stamp Out Hunger, you'll be helping EECM.

Isn't partnership awesome?

Shopping for Good

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

How much money do you spend every month on online shopping? Books, movies, electronics, clothes. You name it, you can now buy it online. And what if every time you shopped online you were also raising money for your favorite charity (i.e. East End Cooperative Ministry)?

Well it just so happens that you can do exactly that with iGive. iGive is an online shopping portal that allows you to make purchases from hundreds of well-known stores. The philanthropy part kicks in because all of those stores then donate a percentage of your purchase (it varies from 1% to 26%) to the cause of your choice.

It's that simple. To date, EECM has raised $274.48 through iGive. Now, that may not sound like a lot. But here's the thing. All of that money has been raised by less than half a dozen supporter-shoppers. That's right. Five people doing their regular online shopping managed to raise almost $300 for EECM.

That's pretty amazing. Just imagine how much money could be generated if ALL of EECM's supporters started using iGive.

It's easy to get started. Just go to www.igive.com/eecm and start shopping!

Origins of Soup Kitchen Meals

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

If you're not an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal (don't worry -- I'm not either. I'm not judging), you might have missed the blurb about EECM that appeared last Thursday. It's pretty cool really. Right there, in the midst of an article on how Food Banks around the country are feeling the effects of America's economic woes, were several paragraphs on our very own Soup Kitchen!

There's a pdf version of the whole article on the EECM website. Click here to make your way there.

What I found most interesting was an overview of one of our Soup Kitchen meals, broken down by donation source. Check this out.

Sloppy Joes were on the menu not that long ago. The meat was donated by EECM member congregation Rodef Shalom. The onions and peppers came from Whole Foods Market. The ketchup was government issue generic and came from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the buns were from Giant Eagle Market District. The soup of the day was minestrone, donated by a local Olive Garden.

Now that's a diverse meal!

Happy Spring!

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

In honor of this (somewhat chilly) first day of Spring, several of our supporting congregations put together some very cute Spring Baskets for our Food Pantry clients.

The baskets came in two varieties. One genre was bright plastic buckets (like you would put crayons in) with cheerful flowers painted on the outside. Inside was a fun collection of jelly beans and chocolates, as well as handmade cards and tissue-paper flowers and bunnies. These had been elegantly wrapped in colored cellophane and tied off with yellow ribbons. Very pretty!

The other group were more traditional wicker baskets with shockingly-colored plastic grass. Their contents included crayons, colored pencils, coloring books, little toys and games, and some miscellaneous chocolates.

The baskets will be distributed to Food Pantry clients (primarily those with children, but we don’t discriminate!) this afternoon.

Happy Spring!

Brain Food

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

FEED THE BRAIN! PLEASE DONATE!

Fliers emblazoned with these bold exhortations gaily bedeck a huge stash of brown paper grocery bags, overflowing with food, over at the Food Pantry today. They are the impressive results of the Falk Middle School Service Committee’s (MSSC) annual Feed the Brain food drive.

The students of the MSSC (whom you might remember from an earlier post about their fabulous alternative gift market) support EECM’s Have a Heart for Hunger campaign each year by promoting a school-wide food drive.

To make things interesting, and to give the drive an academic spin, they focus on “brain food” – like canned tuna or macaroni and cheese (a studying necessity, as all college students know). They also collect gently used children’s books for our Bookcases for Kids project and our Food Pantry families.

It’s a wonderful project and just one more example of the creative ways our community supports EECM Hunger Programs. Thanks to everyone who participated!

What do you do with all that food?

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

During our have a heart for hunger campaign, one way that many organizations (and individuals) show their support of EECM is by hosting food drives. A large-scale food drive (like the Love Walk) can bring in over 1,000 pounds of food. That’s a lot of groceries. Which might lead you to wonder to yourself: what do they do with all that food?

Glad you asked. Food donations to EECM are mostly divided up between several programs. The bulk of the donations are distributed via the Food Pantry. Some are used in our two other hunger programs (Soup Kitchen and Meals on Wheels) and a few others are sent over to our Homeless Drop-In Center.

What we need the most of for the Food Pantry are staples. When a client comes to the pantry he or she is given two ready-packed grocery bags with pre-determined contents.

One has:

1 jar of spaghetti sauce
2 boxes of pasta
1 jar of peanut butter
1 jar of jelly
1 can of fruit
2 cans of vegetables
2 cans (or packages) of soup
2 boxes of macaroni and cheese or rice-a-roni

The other bag contains an assortment of things including cereal, cooking spices, canned tuna, and toilet paper.

The idea is that between these two bags, a family will have enough staples to eat for three days. If it’s an especially large family, we give them another bag. Families also receive a bag of mixed fresh produce (thanks to Whole Foods Market) and have the opportunity to take a loaf of bread. Please note that we have partnerships with local grocery stores to provide these items and we cannot accept perishable items from individuals or groups.

We are in constant need of the non-perishable items listed above. Some groups even do specialty food drives (like “can the fourth graders collect more boxes of macaroni and cheese than the fifth graders?”) which work out really well.

Of course, people donate other things than appear on the small list above. So what do we do with those? Well, we can use some things – like bags of rice or cans of beans – for the meals we prepare at the Soup Kitchen and for Meals on Wheels. Dave’s chili is a weekly favorite at the Soup Kitchen.

Donations of “snack” foods – like granola bars or cookies or crackers – usually end up at the Drop-In center where our homeless clients enjoy them as an afternoon snack.

And what do we do with the really odd-ball stuff like 15 year old bottles of hot sauce or half-empty jars of peanut butter? Well…often we throw them away. That’s right. I said it. Please don’t give us gross stuff that’s been sitting in your pantry since 1972.

So there you have it. You know what we need. Now all you have to do now is go out and organize a food drive.

A Fresh Start

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

A new home or apartment is always an exciting thing. The empty rooms and bare walls beckon with possibility and there is a deep sense of satisfaction because this is home.

Unfortunately, along with all that enthusiasm, excitement, and chest-swelling, there are a lot of costs that come along with having your own place. The start-up costs can be particularly steep when it comes to cleaning and maintenance supplies. You know, all that pesky gear that is necessary to keeping your new home tidy…

...brooms, mops, dust-pans, glass cleaner, paper-towels, toilet brush, toilet bowl cleaner, tile scrubber, mildew remover, dust rags, dusting spray stuff, sponges, scrubby sponges, dish soap, bleach, cleaning buckets, all-purpose cleaning powders, liquids, and gels…I could keep going but I think you get the point.

Buying even the most basic of all this stuff is expensive and for our formerly-homeless clients who are transitioning to permanent housing, the costs are overwhelming.

Happily, thanks to a grant from the Rita M. McGinley Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, EECM will now be able to provide our PennFree and Bridge Housing clients with Fresh Start Kits as they begin their new lives of independent living.

The Fresh Start Kits will contain basic cleaning tools and supplies that will give our clients a “fresh start” in their new apartments. Each Fresh Start Kit will include a heavy-duty cleaning bucket, a mop, a broom, a high-quality scrub brush, a dust pan, rubber gloves, cleaning rags, and a variety of cleaning products.

These kits aren’t just a gesture of hospitality, done because we’re nice people. They have a very important purpose within our programs. The Fresh Start Kits allow our transitional housing clients to immediately take responsibility for the care and upkeep of their new apartments, which increases their sense of pride in ownership. This pride of ownership is vital to their success in our housing programs.

Thanks to the Rita M. McGinley Fund and The Pittsburgh Foundation for making this possible!

A Different Kind of Gift

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Admit it. Not every gift you got this holiday season was “just what you’ve always wanted.” Aunt Mary’s taste in sweaters is appalling and the necktie from your in-laws just isn’t your style. And to be honest, you probably gave a few questionable gifts, too – did your co-worker really need (or want) yet another trinket for her house?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could give a gift without having to worry about whether it’s the right size or the right color?

Well, the Middle School Service Committee (MSSC) at the Falk School is helping people do just that – and helping EECM at the same time.

Since 2004, the MSSC kids have offered an Alternative Gift Shop each holiday season. Alternative Gifts are gaining popularity around the country – maybe you’ve heard about people who gave or got chickens for Christmas or a water buffalo for Hanukkah. The premise is simple: instead of spending money on a tangible object, you make a donation to a charitable organization in honor of your giftee. You feel warm and fuzzy. They feel warm and fuzzy (and secretly relieved that you didn’t buy them a nose hair trimmer). And somewhere out there, a person in need has been helped. It’s cool.

The Falk School Gift Shop includes items like:

2 Meals at the Soup Kitchen
A New Picture Book for a Child
One Week of Meals for an Elderly Neighbor
Two Full Bags of Groceries

The students encourage their families and neighbors to purchase alternative gifts during the holidays, and they supply donors with a sweet holiday card, explaining the purchase that has been made and the group that is benefiting from it. Donors can then give these cards to whoever is receiving the gift.

And it’s lucrative! The Alternative Gift Shop has been raising 4-digit donations for EECM for several years, and its organizer estimates that this year the donations totaled more than $4,000.

I love alternative gifts in general but I find this project particularly inspiring because it involves young people. The holidays have become such a commercial time of year, with lots of focus on getting “stuff,” that it is refreshing to see a group of students instead focusing on philanthropy and trying to make a positive impact on their community.

The EECM Earmark

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Well, this new year got off to an exciting start as, this morning, I found myself milling around a room populated by politicians and media folk as I attended my first-ever press conference. The purpose of the event was to announce that EECM will be receiving nearly half a million dollars ($470,000 to be exact) in federal funding as part of the FY08 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill. Wahoo!

This amazing grant is coming our way thanks to the dedication and hard work of U.S. Senator Bob Casey, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, and Congressman Mike Doyle. These three championed EECM’s inclusion in the Appropriations Bill and without their support, it never would have happened.

The funds will be used to support EECM’s Children & Youth programs, particularly our PHYSED (Points of Healthy Youth Sustainability, Education and Development) program for extremely high risk youth.

It was a pretty cool event to witness. There were three television cameras, a couple radio folk and several reporters from the major news outlets in Pittsburgh. Impressive! And Mayor Ravenstahl, Senator Casey and Congressman Doyle all came in person to participate in the press conference.

I don’t know about you, but I know where I’ll be tonight – glued to the television, waiting to catch a glimpse of our 15 minutes of fame!

The Christmas Bike

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

This week is Christmas Week at EECM. Between today and Friday, we anticipate that nearly 2,500 Christmas gifts will be delivered to EECM and distributed to our clients. Santa Claus, eat your heart out.

So far, about half of the gifts have arrived. Most of them are temporarily housed at the Shady Avenue Christian Assembly – a gracious and wonderful congregation that opens its doors to this program every year. There are piles of gifts. Mountains of gifts. Brightly wrapped packages literally cascading from every available surface. It’s awesome.

I was over at the church yesterday, helping congregations unload their deliveries and sorting gifts, and I enjoyed perusing the gift tags and speculating about the contents of the boxes. There was one gift in particular I was keeping my eyes open for. I didn’t even know for sure that it would be coming. But I hoped, and I watched as the presents piled up.

And then, I opened the back doors of a 15 passenger van piled high with gifts and there it was. I knew immediately that the present I had been waiting for had arrived. It was an absolutely enormous rectangular box, with clever hand-holds cut into the wrapping paper to make it easier to carry. Inside that box is a brand-new bicycle.

Why was I so eagerly anticipating the arrival of this particular gift? Because it’s a sweet story, worthy of the season. The soon-to-be-recipient of this bike is a 15 year old boy who has a variety of developmental delays. His mother came to fill out the Christmas gift request forms and said that what he wanted most in the world for Christmas was a bike. It was his only Christmas wish. Ordinarily, we don’t put down requests that large – our congregations are generous but a new bike really is a big present – but we decided to go ahead and write it down, with a little note explaining the circumstances, and hope for the best.

I can only imagine what a joyous day Christmas morning will be for that young man and his family. I don’t know who donated the bike, but I hope they know what a very special gift it was and how much it will be appreciated.

Thanksgiving Bounty

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Well, the Thanksgiving Bounty continued (and increased) last week. Here's a quick look at just a few of the donations that rolled in in time for Thanksgiving at EECM.

A group of students from the Falk School brought in the results of a pie-baking fundraiser: $500 and more than 100 pies. They got parents and other friends to "sponsor" the pies by paying for the production of a pie that would then be donated to the Food Pantry. What an awesome idea!

The 8th graders at St. Edmund's Academy came by with hundreds of grocery items, neatly organized into boxes of complete meals -- cornbread, green beans, etc. Just add turkey!

The Hunger Busters at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children rounded up more than 150 pounds of spaghetti.

Club One made good on their promise of a frozen flock -- they brought in 60 frozen turkeys along with enough side-dish groceries to fill up four of our HUGE plastic tubs (we're talking hundred of pounds of food here).

Thanks to all for helping to make Thanksgiving a happy holiday for all of our clients!

Full Turkey Ahead

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Thanksgiving may be still a week away but here at EECM it’s Full Turkey Ahead and All Turkeys Go. Harvest season is a bountiful time of year and the approaching holidays bring out the charitable in everyone. The result of which is that our Food Pantry is overflowing…which is a good thing because traffic at the Pantry increases dramatically at this time of year. Ordinarily, we see around 20 to 25 families each day. Yesterday, we served 76.

One of the reasons for the extra people is that EECM is a recipient of Turkey Vouchers from Giant Eagle. The vouchers are good for a turkey, ham or chicken at Giant Eagle and we distribute them to our clients. A good-sized bird can feed a family for quite a while and the turkey vouchers are always eagerly anticipated.

But what would a turkey dinner be without the sides? Never fear – East Liberty Presbyterian Church to the rescue! Each year ELPC participates in a Thanksgiving Bag food drive for EECM. At the morning church services, they pass out brown paper grocery bags, to which they have stapled a list of Thanksgiving sides like stovetop stuffing, canned sweet potatoes, jars of gravy, and cornbread mix. The filled bags are then distributed to our clients along with their turkey vouchers and voila, a Thanksgiving Day feast. They even toss in festive holiday napkins. This year, they collected well over 100 Thanksgiving Bags.

And if all that food wasn’t enough, we’re expecting a large feathery donation on Monday – a flock of 50 frozen turkeys. All Turkeys On Deck!

Clifford: The Big Red Van

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

What’s big and red and has Really Awesome flashing lights on top?

EECM’s new Hunger and Homeless van, of course!

Officially, he is a 1989 Ford Club Wagon E350, but that’s a bit of a mouthful and I’m planning on calling him Clifford instead. Isn’t he handsome?

Clifford was donated to us recently by East Liberty Presbyterian Church. This is simply the most recent example of the ongoing support shown to EECM by this fabulous congregation. To read more about ELPC’s involvement with EECM, click here.

We will put our new van to good use in our Hunger and Housing programs where one of his most important duties will be collecting the daily donations of produce and baked goods from Whole Foods Market.

Thanks ELPC! And welcome to the fleet, Clifford!

Food of the Month

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

In light of my previous post about weird things people donate to the Food Pantry, you might be feeling a little self-conscious about your own prospective donations. Are they strange? Will we mock you if you donate a Thai Tofu Instant Rice bowl? Does anyone actually eat Spam?

Well never fear! We have just the thing to calm your worried mind. EECM’s Food of the Month. Each month, we feature a specific item that the Food Pantry always needs. These are the staples that we give out all the time and that we can never ever have too much of. So, if you are in need of inspiration for a good Pantry donation, peruse the list below. (But just so you know – we’ll take any of these at any time. If you have a cache of peanut butter begging to leave your shelves, you do not need to wait until January to give it to us.)

Behold, the EECM Food Pantry Food of the Month List

January:  Peanut Butter
February:  Macaroni & Cheese
March:  Jelly / Jam
April:  Spaghetti Sauce
May:  Soup
June:  Canned Fruit
July:  Peanut Butter
August:  Macaroni & Cheese
September:  Jelly / Jam
October:  Spaghetti Sauce
November:  Pasta
December:  Canned Tuna

**Note: The Food of the Month can also always be found on the EECM website.  

Share the Warmth Coat Drive

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

My husband says I have too many coats. I disagree. Light-weight rain jacket. Heavy-duty rain coat. Brown wool pea coat. Black wool winter coat. Down ski jacket. Light-weight polar fleece jacket. Funky Tibetan wool jacket. Several semi-water-proof, mid-weight athletic jackets. Down ski vest. Clearly, each has a specific purpose and each is essential…

…or maybe not. I don’t feel too guilty when Josh gives me a hard time about the overflowing coat closet because, hey, he’s a guy. They have less stuff. But my conscience did start to prickle as we kicked off EECM’s annual Share the Warmth Fall Coat Drive.

Each year, EECM collects new or clean and gently used fall jackets and winter coats. These donations are then distributed to the men in our homeless shelter and the families who come to our food pantry. For some of these people, a warm coat could literally make the difference between life and death this winter. Ouch. That definitely makes you reevaluate the necessity of your wardrobe.

And so I have culled my own coat collection and identified several that will be going to the Coat Drive this year.

Do you have any superfluous outwear lurking unworn in your front closet? If so, share the warmth and bring them to:

EECM’s Drop-In Center
Fourth Presbyterian Church
5450 Friendship Avenue (corner of Friendship and Roup)
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Donations are accepted weekdays between 3 and 6 PM. We have a particular need for extra large men’s coats.

PS – If you already have a bare-bones closet, why not check out the local Salvation Army or Goodwill? They often have good-quality coats – you could pick up several to donate without breaking the bank.

Tampontification

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

And speaking of unusual donations…last Thursday's mail brought with it – in addition to the usual wave of bills, donations, catalogs, and junk mail – a box from Seventh Generation, accompanied by a check for $200. Inside the box … several cases of tampons and pantiliners!

Interesting…

Seventh Generation is a great company that specializes in environmentally-friendly household and personal care products. They market everything from laundry detergent to paper products to diapers and all of it uses renewable, non-toxic, phosphate free and biodegradable ingredients. And as an added plus, they are strictly anti-animal-testing. Huzzah!

Their motto is perfect:

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” – From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy.

And now, Seventh Generation has launched a new initiative: chlorine-free feminine care products. The name of that initiative? Tampontification. Which would probably win the all-time-best-name-ever award, if such a thing existed.

And here’s the cool part – and how it is that we came to receive a box of tampons here at EECM – as part of their Tampontification initiative, Seventh Generation has created a nationwide shelter donation program. The fact is, feminine care products are expensive and many poor people (especially the homeless) find it difficult, if not impossible, to afford those oh-so-necessary products. Enter Seventh Generation.

On their website (which is absolutely fabulous and You Must See It) they established a “click to donate” page, much like the one used on the Breast Cancer Site to fund free mammograms. They’ve had such an overwhelming response that they’ve suspended the clicking option for a few months while they get all of the feminine products shipped to shelters around the country. They also send a financial contribution to be used for immediate shelter needs.

Wow.

Alligator Anyone?

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

EECM’s Food Pantry relies heavily on private donations to stock its shelves – we happily accept contributions from individuals, congregations, and businesses. There are certain staples that we are always in need of including tuna fish, peanut butter, pasta, spaghetti sauce, and canned fruit. We feature one of these each month as the “Food of the Month” to encourage regular donations of these items. You can always find the Food of the Month posted on the EECM website.

While we’re always thrilled to receive items from the Food of the Month list, we don’t limit donations to these items – we publicize that we accept most non-perishable food items. Which means that we get some…well…unusual donations from time to time.

Like caviar.

Or half-eaten jars of peanut butter (note that this is in the plural).

Or falafel mix.

Or a boxed food item with a coupon on the back that expired 8 years ago.

But perhaps the most intriguing Food Pantry donation of all time came in just a few days ago. Above you will see our Food Services Coordinator, Jim, posing with the item in question. Look closely.

Yes, that’s right. Canned alligator. Cajun style.

Manna from Hollywood

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

In the 16th chapter of the book of Exodus, the Israelites, who have been wandering about in the desert, hungry, tired and noticeably grumpy for some time now, are finally given a break. God rains down upon them bread from the heavens – literally. Manna falls from the sky, the Israelites are thrilled and there is much rejoicing. A similar thing happened here at EECM two weeks ago involving cookware, though luckily it arrived via truck rather than directly from above.

As you may or may not be aware (I wasn’t), the Spike TV mini-series entitled the Kill Point was filmed in Pittsburgh. Filming for the show wrapped up recently and we got a call from a somewhat frazzled but very nice man at the production studio (a subsidiary of Lion’s Gate Entertainment) asking if by chance we could use an Italian restaurant.

That’s right…a whole restaurant. One of their set pieces was said restaurant, which had been outfitted in brand-new, high-quality, commercial grade cookware, furniture and appliances. And now that the show was over, they had no use for those set pieces and were looking to offload them to a worthy cause. Apparently, this happens a lot; the cost and hassle involved in selling off the used pieces is more than the production companies want to deal with and so they either throw away or donate their old sets.

After a few moments of stunned silence (and a few more where my co-workers and I worked to convince ourselves that this was not some weird Hollywood joke) we heartily agreed to take the leftover kitchen pieces. And so EECM is now the proud possessor of a gorgeous eight-burner Vulcan stove, a large stainless steel refrigerator, as-yet uncounted boxes of dishes and cookware, several prep tables, a few dining tables with chairs, a bread oven and a soda fountain.

And we are thrilled and there is much rejoicing.