Julie Interrante

Hi Everyone,
I would like to introduce you to Mercy Pedalers and its founder Sr. Libby Fernandez. Sr. Libby is the former executive director of Loaves & Fishes here is Sacramento, an organization that since 1983 has fed the hungry and sheltered people experiencing homelessness. A year ago she was inspired to start Mercy Pedalers. The mission of Mercy Pedalers is to connect and meet with men and women experiencing homelessness on the streets. Once a connection has been established, Pedalers share a cup of coffee, offer a cool bottle of water, a nutritious snack, or even give useful hygiene items to individuals, from socks to toothpaste. (brochure & photos attached)

For several years, I have stopped to listen and talk with people we call homeless but who I have come to know as my neighbors who are experiencing poverty. Last week I did my orientation of pedaling with Sr. Libby to connect with many of my neighbors who live on the streets of Sacramento. I don’t have words for the experience of offering coffee, water, breakfast bars, a moment to listen, to touch and be touched. This is true community – my community. As a result, I have joined the ranks of Mercy Pedalers as a pedaling volunteer.

I am writing today because I want to raise enough funds to purchase another electric-assist trike for Mercy Pedalers which will be outfitted with a cabinet on the back where 2 large coffee carafes can be carried along with cups, hygiene products, nutritional bars, water and socks. The cost of the trike is $2,299.99. You can see the trike at raleighusa.com and search electric-assist trike. The cost of outfitting it with a cabinet is $500 bringing the total amount I would like to raise to $2,800. I have committed to using this trike as my vehicle to expand the number of people reached each week.

You can make a tax deductible donation toward the purchase of this trike by sending me a check made out to Mercy Pedalers, Tax I.D. # 83-0699874. My address is 3957 Miller Way, Sacramento, CA 95817. Because this is the most direct way for Sr. Libby to keep track of these particular funds, it is the preferred way of receiving donations. If, however, you prefer to make a donation on line, you may do so at www.mercypedalers.com and your donation will be made to Mercy Foundations which will then be distributed to this project. If you donate on line, please make a notation that your donation is for the JI trike for Mercy Pedalers in Sacramento.

Thank you very much for considering my request and for your generous donations. I appreciate each of you very much and look forward to hearing from you.

Warmly,
julie

Let's make Big Day of Giving fun! Visit our Drive-Thru Donation Station this Thursday. It's a BDOG first!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYHeBFYKQ7o

Julie Interrante supports Big Day of Giving at Joshua's House Julie Interrante is former hospital chaplain and now an end-of-life educator. Find out why she supports Joshua's House on the the Big Day of Giving. Donate t...

Please join me in the Big Day of Giving on May 3, 2018, in support of Joshua’s House. Thank you in advance for your loving service!

Julie Interrante Supports Big Day of Giving at Joshua's House Draft 2

Who doesn’t want pancakes on Thanksgiving, huh?! I really hope you’ll come down for breakfast and support Joshua’s House. Ross will be running the grill with lots of help from volunteers – in fact, if you’d like to pitch in and help us, we’d love to have you.
You can volunteer on line at http://thehcri.org

There really is going to be live music and singing and just a lot of holiday fun. There will be place inside to eat in warmth and comfort while you watch all the people as they run by. Please join us – I’d love to see you!

Joshua's House Pancake Breakfast @ Run to Feed the Hungry! Attend our Pancake Breakfast located on the route of this year's Run to Feed the Hungry! You'll have a front-row seat as you watch 28,000 runners pass by 51st and J Street. And you'll be entertained by a the best 25-piece ukulele orchestra in Sacramento. So, bring your friends and family to this exc...

Joshua's House Pancake Breakfast @ Run to Feed the Hungry! Attend our Pancake Breakfast located on the route of this year's Run to Feed the Hungry! You'll have a front-row seat as you watch 28,000 runners pass by 51st and J Street. And you'll be entertained by a the best 25-piece ukulele orchestra in Sacramento. So, bring your friends and family to this exc...

Last Sunday I had so much fun at Spiritual Life Center giving a talk called "Are You as Happy as Your Dog?" Daisy and Eddy were the stars of the day, and everyone at SLC was so gracious and loving with them. It was a really fun day!

Thinking about being as happy as my dog leads me to our dog Daisy. Our beloved dog is 12 years old, has a degree of what my vet calls canine dementia and significant arthritis in her hips, legs, wrists and feet. She wanders when we take her to the park and refuses to pay any attention to being directed or called, some of that from diminished hearing. The rest of it I think is from just wanting to do life the way she wants to do it.

Ross came home from the park yesterday and said Daisy wandered the entire time he and Eddy played catch. He admitted when he couldn’t see her, he would think about what it would be like to have to call me and say, ‘I’ve lost Daisy. Can you come help me find her?’ We laughed knowing what kind of reaction I might have to such news! We talked about the frustration we each feel at times when she lays facing the wall barking for no apparent reason or stands in your path and refuses to move. Or when she deliberately walks faster when she sees you coming to put her on a leash, something she never did before.

Then the conversation changed to how seemingly stubborn each of us is becoming as we get older. I shared how as I age, I just don’t want to do what I don’t want to do. Ross mentioned how mad I used to get when he’d say, ‘that’s just the way I am,’ and now I’m trying to embrace that idea and live more like a dog!

Daisy really is an amazing model for me. She doesn’t give a hoot! She’s slowing down, sleeping more, has lots to say and refuses to be bothered with anything that doesn’t interest her. Perhaps she’s really just mirroring for both Ross and me our own burgeoning attitudes about accepting ourselves exactly the way we are without even a hint of apology. Ha! In that case, I’m going to keep watching and learning from my sweet, amazing teacher, Daisy.

I am constantly inspired by the all-out living of a dog. This is Eddy, my year-old Aussiedoodle. On Monday when it was 109 degrees in Sacramento, I took him and Daisy, our 12-year-old yellow lab to our neighbor’s backyard to use the swimming pool.
The first video here is the first time I threw the ball into the water. He wanted so badly to get in the water but was too uncertain to go down the steps of the pool. I lifted him in, let him go and that’s his first time in deep water. The second video you see is what happened the third time I threw his ball. Amazing! Of course, my first thought as a proud mother of this adorable pooch is “I have the smartest dog in the world!” (I know you’ve all thought the same thing about your dogs, right?!) It wasn’t until I actually looked at the videos that it really struck me how uncertain he was just 2 throws before that and how the joy of the cool water and swimming for the first time, just took him over and he launched himself into the pool without hesitation.

I sometimes wonder if dogs know they are only here for a short time and are determined to live all out and enjoy every minute of it. Sometimes I wish I had the brain of a dog. Maybe if I hang out with them enough, I’ll get it – they’ve sure taught me a lot about life, death and joy over the years.

I LOVE DOGS!! And have a special place in my heart for the working dogs.

This week I read a lovely story in the Sacramento Bee about Rocket, a Sacramento Search and Rescue dog that is helping in Houston. Five years ago Rocket was scheduled to be euthanized when a woman at the shelter recognized something in him that she couldn’t ignore. She took him home, trained and worked with him until he was able to pass the search dog test.

The story completely warmed my heart and set my day on the track of being touched by life – life all around me. Seeing the goodness of the woman who took him in, the goodness of Rocket and his innate desire to help allowed me to enter my day with a more tender heart. Thank you Rocket and everyone involved, including the Sacramento Bee for bringing goodness into my life today.

You can read the full story at http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/pets/article170060577.html

Rocket was scheduled to die. Now the ex-Sacramento shelter dog is aiding first responders in Houston Rocket, a Sacramento shelter dog, was deemed too energetic to be adopted and slated for euthanasia. Now, the dog is helping out after Hurricane Harvey as a search dog.