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The Down-N-Out DineI

Two young COlJplE,S decided to beBY ELIZABETH GOSNEY

in their community by serving up hundreds of meals to men a

Wth 700 potatoes, several gallonsof chili, and a love of service,Lindsay and Ryan Taylor, Lesley andIsaac Bickmore, and a few friends andstrangers served 350 homeless men inNovember 2009. Since then, the Taylorsand Bickmores named the project theDown-N-Out Diner and have organized,collected, and served food once a monthto groups of 200-350 homeless and needypeople in the SaltLake City area. TheDown-N-Out Diner's meals have not onlyfilled the diners' stomachs, but the volun-teers' hearts aswelL

I Ordering Up Some ServiceIn July 2009, Ryan and his wife, Lindsay,decided to start serving the homeless and

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needy in their community. They didn'thave to look far to find an idea for how toserve; Ryan's mother, Liz Taylor, and herRelief Society had been serving meals forthe needy since December 2008. With asign-up sheet and some organization, theTaylors copied Liz's idea in their own ward.

"Really,the whole principle behind itis to get a lot of people to donate a smallportion each, and itbuilds a home-cookedmeal for those who have fallen on hardtimes;' says Ryan Taylor, a law student andgraphic designer.

Although their first attempt didn't go aswell as planned; the Taylors didn't give up.Banding together with their neighbors theBickmores, the two couples collected fooddonations and volunteers from their West

Jordan, Utah, community. Thefed 350 homeless men in Nove

Although both the TaylorsBickmores had young familieslives, the young couples decidtheir service amore permanenwithin their community becaudesire to be a change for goodmunity. "There are a lot of proworld. One of them is definitelessness and [lack of] food, busomething about it now;' Ryanof it is just doing what I alreadacting upon what I think the wbe like."

Sowhat began mostly as a sect for the couples' LDSward hexpanded to include the West

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he Down-N-Out Diner allows communityembers to serve without the pressure of beingffiliated with a church. Without this pressure,ore people have gotten involved, from donat-g food and supplies to volunteering their time.

ty as well. Lesley Bickmore, armer schoolteacher and amother of one,pecting another child in December, hasticed how the Down- N-Out Diner allows

unity members to serve without thessure of being affiliated with a church.

ithout this pressure, more people havetten involved, from donating food and

lies to volunteering their time.For Isaac Bickmore, a music teacher at-8 school in the Salt Lake City School

strict, the effort helps satisfy ayearn-to serve that was jump-started by the

ovie The So lo is t and John Grisham's booke St ree t Lawyer. "Both the book and thevie made me feel like there is so mucht can be done that doesn't take a lot-so

any everyday needs," he says. "You gorough life and feel like you're not mak-

a difference, but you can tell you'relping so~ebody when you do this!'

~itchen to the TableDown-~-Out Diner's affiliation with a

cal shelterlcalled the Road Home allowsteers t? do more for the needy than

st providi1 gmeals for them."The reas on feeding the people there islpful ... [. because] every hour we loga volunte hour that the Road Homelog;' Ryf explains. "It helps them get

re funding that helps them on theirer goal o~getting people into homes:'Before t~e volunteers get to the Roadme, they Jign up on the Down- N-Out

's Face!iook page or blog to donated, time, 0 both. Whether it's a salad forfour box s of Capri Suns, or two hours

serving tiTe, the Down-N-Out Dinerts neede1 items two weeks before thener takes place. After signing up, vol-teers are then e-mailed about when to

meetto help serve or where to drop offfood, which varies depending on whetherit is perishable, whether it needs to beheated or cooled before serving, and whohas volunteered as a "drop-off point" thatmonth.

After all the food is collected and thevolunteers are congregated, Lindsay saysthe excitement builds for both those serv-ing and those being served, with men andwomen lining the halls of the Road Home,waiting for their meals.

"We've had a goal every month: thisis how many people we want to feed thismonth and this is how we're going to doit, and it always works out;' she says. "Mostmonths we have so much leftover foodthat we can take it to another shelter andfeed another group!'

Although many people think of theneedy during the holiday season, there isa high demand for meals all year long. "Ithink they actually get a lot offood duringthe holidays," Lesley says. "It's during theoff-season that people forget about them. Iguess that's why it's fun to do it year-round:'Soul Food"I often think of the scripture that says, 'Arewe not all beggars?'" Lesley continues. 'Andreally, ifwe can help someone else, I feel likethe Lord will help us more in our needs:'

The Taylors moved from Utah at theend of the summer, but they plan on con-tinuing to serve the homeless on the EastCoast while helping others learn how toorganize meals as well. Before they moved,though, the Taylors set up a system so theirneighbors could continue serving.

Through their blog, th edoum -n-ouidin er.bl ogs pot .co m, the Taylors hope to helpothers avoid a "crash course;' as Ryan puts

it, in learning how to serve the homeless.Ryan says the blog "takes care of most ofthe leg-work" for new volunteers throughpre-made menus, phone numbers, andother helpful information,

"[People] can go to our website, pullup a sign-up sheet, and print it off. I t hasall the information and allthe tools so thatthey can organize a dinner quickly andeasily;' he says. Those interested in volun-teering, donating food, or learning abouthow to serve in their own community canalso visit the Down-N-Out Diner page onFacebook.

Feeding the homeless "makes you real-ize it's those little things that can mean somuch to somebody," Lindsay says. "Everyexperience, you come back with a greatmemory." 0

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