Lessons from Driving a Food Van in DC

Among my favorite books are Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Kerouac’s on The Road, Into the Wild by Krakauer, and almost anything by Jack London. Each of these books features an exploration of America on some type of journey. This year I learned a lot about America by driving a mobile food service truck called McKenna’s Wagon. Some of these may be obvious, while others probably reflect more on my privilege than anything else, but I feel compelled to share.

How I came to Drive:

Operated by Martha’s Table, McKenna’s Wagon provides delicious and nutritious meals for people in Washington, DC. is named for Jesuit priest Father Horace McKenna who would go out in the 1980s in his station wagon to feed the less fortunate. While the wagon is now a Freightliner van, the mission has stayed the same.

I first started to volunteer with McKenna’s Wagon in June of 2011. It was my second month being employed by Bloomberg, LP. Our fantastic Best of Bloomberg volunteer program provided twice monthly volunteer opportunities. Someone called in sick, an email was sent around the office, and off I went. It was a whirlwind experience, but I was hooked and for eight years went and served food and rode along in the van.

A few times we had talked about my driving, but we never finalized it. This year, the pandemic meant they needed extra drivers and 9 years after my first volunteer experience I found myself behind the wheel and driving McKenna’s Wagon. It was eye opening in many ways. Doing a quick count of the sign up sheet, it’s something I would do 30 more times. On New Year’s Eve, I sat in an empty metro station waiting for my ride back to my apartment, and I reflected on a few of the things that I had learned from driving the van.

1. How much COVID19 has upended our Society

Pre-pandemic the amount of meals we served were in the low 100s. A lot depends on the time of the month. In the beginning of the month when people’s benefits are still fresh you see less people, as the month wears on more and more rely on the service. My last trip out pre-pandemic was in March and we served just around 125ish meals. My first trip out that number had doubled. People who had been hanging on and had not needed the service the pandemic pushed them to the breaking point. Others had been relying on other service providers who no longer were able to operate. Others relied on the kindness of strangers going to and from the offices downtown but were all working from home. 

Some days were more heartbreaking than others. In the summer months we saw children in the food lines. During Thanksgiving and Christmas season when schools were not in session the children would reappear. At times the food line would go around the block. It looked like something out of the Great Depression. One time I saw a man I knew from a common organization standing in line. I talked to him after and he said he was OK, but just ran out of cash that week. 

It’s one thing to read about food insecurity and hunger in the news, it’s quite another to see it first hand.

2. The Importance of Reliability

DC has seen its fair share of protests this year. The two spots we feed are a little bit north of the US Capitol, and a few blocks from the White House. One trip involved quite a few detours but we arrived a few minutes late. As we got out of the van and set up the table the one client said “You made it, we weren’t sure you were going to make it!” There were tears down his eyes. Another time to get to the second stop, the DEA stopped the van, looked inside it and verified that it was just food, but when we arrived the clients waiting for the meal smiled and said “thank you.” Even on December 23rd they asked “are you sure you’re going to be here on Christmas Eve?” For many of these people they have experienced when systems have not supported them. Each time when we came, be it in sleet, freezing rain, protests, election night, or holiday we affirmed for the clients that there was something to rely on.

3. Transportation Inequality: I maintain an apartment in Ward 3, I work in Ward 2, and Martha’s Table is in Ward 8. For my driving test and certification, I decided to give mass transit a try. I allowed myself 2 hours to get there. Two metro lines, a bus, and a walk I wound up being 15 minutes late. This was equal parts eye opening and frustrating for me. I used to kvetch when I had to wait for three trains to get downtown during my morning commute. Yet for the people who live in Ward 8 this is their daily lived experience of failing mass transit.

To get to Martha’s Table, I don’t have the flexibility to wait for working Mass Transit. As it is, I work through lunch on Martha’s Table days to reduce the time I need to make up for leaving work early. I luckily have the option to use Lyft so it reduces the amount of time I need to make up. Yet, many people do not have that option.

It also amazes me how much faster it is to get a Lyft to go somewhere in Ward 3 or Ward 2 than it is to get from Ward 3 or Ward 2 to Ward 8. We talk about transportation inequality, but until you experience it first hand, you don’t really appreciate how limiting it is.

4. The Plight of Gig Workers:

I was not a Lyft customer until the pandemic. However, since COVID19 has been a necessity. In talking with the drivers each of them has a story. Some of them took up driving for Lyft because the hospitality job they had ended. Some had used it for a steady source of income and could pick up a significant share of their money picking people up at Reagan Airport or Union Station, or Friday night social activities. One Lyft ride the driver had her daughter with her. The driver needed to make money, the school was virtual, so mom drove while the daughter did school. Another case a driver picked me up from Martha’s table and asked “Do you know how I can get some food from them?”

5. The Impact of Food Deserts

I forget what I needed, it was either milk, tuna, or cat litter. I had forgotten to pick it up on my grocery run. No problem I thought, I would pick it up after my McKenna’s Wagon run. Pre-pandemic this was easy to do as we were over in Ward 1 and there was a Giant and a Safeway in walking distance. I wound up having to take Metro in order to get what I needed. Much like transportation this was a one time inconvenience for me, but a lived reality for far too many people.

6. Teamwork:

The meals are separated into the hot meal and the cold meal so the hot meals stay hot and the cold meals stay cool, and when it comes time to give them to the client we need to combine them. It may also be raining so they go in plastic bags, or we may have bread to include. Regardless, it takes teamwork to make it happen. It’s amazing to see how quickly three or four people who may not know one another at all can quickly come together to serve a couple of hundred meals.

7. The Goodness of People:

President George H.W. Bush spoke about America as a thousand points of light. He spoke about the critical importance of people giving what gifts they have. I saw that every time I went out this past year. Each of those cold packs had delicious PB&J sandwiches that were lovingly prepared by someone in their home, or at Martha’s Table. The sandwich maker did not know who would receive it, just a person in need. Other times there would be prepared snacks packs. Clyde’s Restaurant Group donated mouthwatering chickens and ravioli and beef stew for Christmas Eve. A random person showed up one night with envelopes with $20 in it and facemasks. New Year’s Eve a father and his sons were passing out hats and gloves. The people I am lucky enough to volunteer with, high school students, or kids home on college break, or long time volunteers. In the darkness that is COVID the light of the goodness of the American people has truly shown bright. President William Jefferson Clinton famously said “There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what is right with America.”

2021 has arrived. There is much that we as a nation, as a people, and a world need to do. Changing the calendar will not change what happened in 2020, but our individual actions and how we go out and transform the world will.