I got up early this morning. After all, Dawn was due at 8:30 am. She showed up early, and Ruth and I had already consolidated the cookies and muffins. It was so hot last night that I placed them in the 'fridge so that the chocolate chips wouldn't melt. They could wait for that for Saturday -- it was forecast to be another hot one.
We picked a spot outside of Safeway, in the shade, of course, and hoped that Safeway management wouldn't mind if we camped there temporarily, for about four hours or so. Safeway at Washington Square in San Leandro, I thought, was a perfect spot because of the walk-by traffic, the fact that cold drinks were inside, and there was a restroom (albeit not marked) inside. As we found out throughout our day, their employees were very friendly, a fact that really added to our day.
We spent about half an hour setting up the two tables, wiping them clean, then loading them up with the goodies. We pasted the colorful red-white-and-blue MoveOn.org signs around the tables. It was about 9:15 when we were set-up, and people began to cluster immediately. In fact, we sold about $5 worth of goods within 5 minutes. I was beginning to be encouraged!
Ruth took off after that, and Leslie and her friends (Monica and Chanda) helped her set up. Her Mom, Bonnie, even came by later and chatted with some of the people passing by. I really liked the fact that they had starkly different things than we had, including: macadamia nut tart, toffee blonde brownies, lemon basil shortbread (sorry I didn't get a chance to try that!), and slices of cake.
Leslie reported that she had also dropped by the Farmer's Market that morning and bought bouquets of flowers. She put out about 10 of those for sale. She also had bottles of water for sale.
Our tables had the items Dawn and I (and her friend Beth) had baked -- cookies (molasses, peanut butter, sugar, oatmeal, chocolate chip), plus some non-fat muffins donated by Rosemary. Our volunteers showed up one by one to bring their donated baked goods -- lots and lots! Susan, Kathleen, Casey and Sam, Brenda, Julia, Danyele, Barbara, Joanie, and Neusa. Plus Laurel and Reisa came by to help out.
Here's the bottom line: We completely sold out of baked goods!! (Thanks to Leslie and her friends for taking what was left over at 3 pm and taking it to a new site, where they stayed until it was gone.) I will be recounting the money when I receive the additional from Leslie, but the unofficial total right now is $610. Wow ! Oh, plus 4 cents. I have no idea where that came from.
The people we met were interesting, to be sure, including:
Several Republican men, usually older. One said, over his shoulder as he passed by, "How did they let you radicals sit there?" Another wanted to talk about how he was once a Democrat in Boston some 50 years ago, but times have changed. One told us that if Obama won, we'd be speaking, "Arab." (I don't really know if he was a Republican, but I can come to no other conclusion.)
One woman, African-American, came up cautiously and spat at us, "You'll be sorry!" and muttered something about not being able to trust Obama. That one I can't explain at all.
And we had one woman come up to the table to have a lengthy conversation (well, mostly she just talked), about how she supported Hillary Clinton but now she's going to vote for McCain. And she thought there had been a conspiracy to remove her from the primary race.
There were also a couple of people who seemed friendly to the cause but who said "he has enough money." I think that perception is something our candidate will face in the future.None of the above donated...oh, wait...one of the Republicans relented and bought some goods! I think he liked Leslie and how she listened to him.
Most of the people we met, however, were charged by seeing our signs regarding Barack Obama, and wanted to wish us well. Many, many people gave us an extra dollar, and extra five dollars, an extra 25 dollars, just as a donation. There were at least two women who told me they were diabetics and couldn't eat sugar but, here, take a couple of dollars as a donation.
And, of course, there were those -- many of them -- who like cookies and wanted to buy fresh, homemade muffins or cake.
We got to know some of the friendly Safeway clerks on their way to collect the stray carts, or those just looking for a spot to sit and enjoy their break. I think they even sent some people our way. One of them said hello to me as I went into Safeway in search of air conditioning.
We had a wonderful time. I am so thankful to those who helped out. Everyone put in their hard effort to bake on what was probably the hottest day of the year in the Bay Area. And then to come down and deliver the goods and/or their time. I really appreciate all the help.
It was an amazing day. Just meeting all those incredible people -- helpers and visitors and customers -- I would say it's a special day. But we raised over $600 for the fight to put Barack Obama in the White House. That just raised the bar on amazing days. Wow.
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