In April, WDTL members and guests volunteered at the OSL Serves commercial kitchen in downtown Seattle. OSL Serves (formerly known as Operation: Sack Lunch) provides no-cost, nutrient-dense, culturally relevant meals to shelters, tiny house villages, permanent supportive housing units, Open Meal Service sites, children’s programs, elder programs, asylum-seeker meals, homeless veteran meals, and other organizations in need of nutritional support. WDTL volunteers prepared 250 meals that day. 

OSL Serves was very grateful for the assistance, and our volunteers also enjoyed the experience.  Aimee Oldfield (Advanced Medical Group), served on the first of two shifts:

“We recently had the opportunity to volunteer with OSL helping prepare meals, and as always, it was an incredibly meaningful experience. What struck me most was the atmosphere in the kitchen: lots of joy, laughter, and genuine care put into everything being prepare. It was obvious that this wasn’t just about making meals. The team at OSL truly cares about the community that they serve and the impact they are making every day, and I feel very grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of that! I’m already looking forward to the next opportunity to volunteer with OSL Serves.”

Michael A. Nicefaro (retired, formerly of the Office of the Attorney General) served on the second shift and echoed that sentiment:

“I enjoy participating in WDTL community service activities for many reasons.  The primary one of course is to help others.  At our Friendship Adventures karaoke events, we can see people we're helping real time, and that's aways fun.  The OSL event was different because we were preparing food for later distribution to unseen people whom it would help.  But it was equally gratifying because we knew from the quantity and quality of the food we produced that it would help many folks enjoy a good meal that might be the high point in their day.  I could not imagine a better way to spend those few hours that Saturday.”

Members from Simmons Sweeney Freimund Smith Tardif, the Office of the Attorney General, and Advanced Medical Group participated that day, along with WDTL’s law student members.  For more information about OSL Serves, including volunteer opportunities, please visit www.oslserves.org.   For more information concerning WDTL community service and pro bono opportunities, or to join the WDTL’s Community Service Committee, please contact the committee chair, Gauri Shrotriya Locker, at gauri.locker@atg.wa.gov or Maggie Sweeney at maggie@wdtl.org.