President Obama and family help distribute food

[bigtree]

November 24, 2010; 5:39 PM


(Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)


WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama and his family have delivered turkeys that didn't receive a presidential pardon to a food pantry for the poor.

After Obama issued the annual presidential reprieves to two turkeys at the White House on Wednesday, the Obama family passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving staples at Martha's Table in downtown Washington. The first family also worked at the pantry during last year's holiday.

The president, his daughters, Malia and Sasha, first lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, volunteered alongside friends and family.

Obama greeted patrons and their children with holiday wishes and high-fives, winking at toddlers as he packed bags with supplies.

read: http://help.washingtonpost.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=15080&task=knowledge&questionID=302?nav=globebot



http://media.npr.org/images/ap//AP_News_Wire:_Politics/9_Obama_Thanksgiving.sff.jpg

In the afternoon, President Obama and his family delivered two turkeys that did not receive pardons to Martha's Table, a local charity offers meals and other community services. A Pennsylvania turkey farm donated the birds.

The president, his daughters, wife Michelle and her mother, Marian Robinson, and other family and friends passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving staples. It was a return visit for the first family; they worked at the pantry during last year's holiday.

Obama, in shirt sleeves, greeted patrons and their children with holiday wishes and high-fives, winking at toddlers as he packed bags with supplies. He handed a woman an overflowing bag and cautioned her, "It's heavy." Obama brightened at the sight of a toddler. "Hey, cutie pie!" he said, waving at the child.

read: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131566506



http://media.npr.org/images/ap//AP_News_Wire:_Politics/8_Obama_Thanksgiving.sff_300.jpg

from a pool report:

The family, dressed casually, was lined up behind four stainless steel tables in a medium-sized yellow room decorated with pictures and construction paper fall leaves and hearts.

A line of families, many with small children, snaked along the other side of the tables piled with food, picking up goods as they moved forward.

First they met Malia by the bags of fresh raw green beans; then Michelle by bananas and other fruit; then Sasha with boxes of pudding mix; then the president handing out bags bulging with a turkey and other food and stuffing in pumpkin pies; and finally his mother-in-law Marian Robinson.

All of the Obamas were upbeat, smiling and welcoming, and those in line appeared a little awed but replied to the Obamas' good wishes in kind.

The president, tieless in shirtsleeves, gave high fives to three or four little boy as he wrestled with some of the bags.

read: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/11/obama-and-family-help-distribute-food/1


http://media.npr.org/images/ap//AP_News_Wire:_Politics/7_Obama_Thanksgiving.sff.jpg

[The Straight Story]

1. If he were doing his job he would not need to be distributing it

:evilgrin: :hide: :rofl:

[bigtree]

2. why you . . .

I oughta . . .! :spank:

[Igel]

4. Blame my late-life training.

It would be better to pitch in $5,000 and be elsewhere than distribute for a photo-op what others donated and would have been distributed in any event. That entire "good works in secret" nonsense.

Then again, the "I will spare these in my magnanimity but hand out 200 corpses in my generosity" schtick seemingly required of US presidents these days seems a bit strange. Sort of like taking communion and donning a kippa in order to kill a pig on 'id al-Adha.

[bigtree]

5. they already do donate money

The president and his family also helped distribute food today. That's called leading by example. It's an encouragement for others around the nation to do the same.

Should he have put up a bulletin board behind him listing his contributions to charity?

[dflprincess]

7. I imagine he & Michelle do write checks

and certainly they are aware there are people in need. But perhaps this isn't just a photo op but also an opportunity to teach Sasha & Malia some lessons - I know many parents who have done this sort of thing to help build social consciences in their kids.

I like that they're doing this & I really like that they bring the girls along for it.

[bigtree]

3. kick

:kick:

[FrenchieCat]

6. Thank you bigtree!

For this positive thread.

I certainly have a lot to be grateful for,
and I will also pass out some turkeys tomorrow morning....

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

[bigtree]

11. well, thanks to you for responding

It left me cold for a while there wondering if I'd see any other remarks other than the cynical ones. I think we should acknowledge the positive actions of this President, just as diligently as we do the things we find to criticize. I can't tell you just how much I've been compelled to support this President in response to the lurid and demagogic attacks that have become mainstream and tolerated, even among folks who express such fine points of concern in defense of one interest or the other. Our Democratic President and party deserve a much better defense than has been offered here of late.

Anyway, I hope you and yours also enjoy a happy Thanksgiving, Frenchie Cat. Thanks for volunteering!

[Name removed]

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[jaxx]

10. It's good to see the Obama family helping out.

They believe in service to others and teach their kids the same.

I saw where the Bidens had a dinner for wounded veterans and their families on Monday night too. We have a fine President and Vice President...people who care.

[bigtree]

12. that's for sure

I don't recall anything similar from the last president in his two-terms. This is very much in character for President Obama. He's spent most of his adulthood engaged in endeavors like this one and more:

____ After graduating from Columbia University in 1983 with a major in political science, Obama worked as a financial consultant in New York City. But he was bored—and drawn to public service. In 1985, he moved to Chicago to work with local churches organizing job training and other programs for poor and working-class residents of Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project where 5,300 African-Americans tried to survive amid shuttered steel mills, a nearby landfill, a putrid sewage treatment plant, and a pervasive feeling that the white establishment of Chicago would never give them a fair shake.

Jerry Kellman, a social activist who recruited Obama, recalls, "He was very bright, very articulate, very personable, and very idealistic," inspired by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence. Kellman offered Obama a job at the annual salary of $10,000, and he threw in $2,000 so Obama could buy a ramshackle car to get around.

Obama was a stranger to the area but caught on quickly by showing humility and a strong work ethic. "We knew what was wrong in the community but we didn't know how to get something done about it," recalls Yvonne Lloyd, 78, who worked with Obama. Obama insisted on "staying in the background while he empowered us." By Obama's own admission, there were few big victories. But whether it was getting the city to fill potholes, provide summer jobs, or remove asbestos from the apartments or persuading the apartment managers to repair toilets, pipes, and ceilings, Obama encouraged residents to come up with their own priorities with the gentle admonition: "It's your community."

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070826/3obama.htm

[frylock]

13. big ups

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I remember one Thanksgiving...

where we had to depend upon the good will of others to celebrate like everyone else. I can still see the faces of the people who gave us the food. I applaud the President and his family in this.

[bigtree]

15. me too. It was a blessing

a commendable example set

[bigtree]

16. video and more

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/24/raw-video-obama-family-volunteers-martha-s-table



President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson help distribute Thanksgiving food items at Martha’s Table, a food pantry in Washington, D.C., Nov. 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)




First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Malia distribute various Thanksgiving food items to members of the community at Martha’s Table, a food pantry in Washington, D.C., Nov. 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)




President Barack Obama gets a high five from a little visitor as the First Family helps distribute Thanksgiving food items at Martha’s Table, a food pantry in Washington, D.C., Nov. 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)