I recently arrived back from a 10-day trip to Kenya, Africa with 5 members of my church, including…read morethe middle school pastor that was also my mission team leader in my previous review of Haiti. Everything that my trip to Haiti was not, my trip to Africa was & I am so happy I decided to give 410 Bridge a 2nd chance! --- I certainly want to share all about the wondrous things I saw, people I met, and all the details from the PAGES of journal notes that I took every day. I want you to know how friendly the people of the nation of Kenya are & how the children are so dang adorable everywhere you go! I want to describe how every child I passed (particularly in more rural country regions) had a smile that would melt your heart & were eager to greet you with genuine warmth! They didn't just wave EVERY TIME, but (if you waved back) they would ask 'how are you' with an awesome little British accent to their twang. I was blown away with their manners. Some of these children wearing mismatched clothes without shoes on their feet would shake your hand, sometimes performing a curtsy. BLEW ME AWAY! In my journal I wrote: "I have experienced many hours of driving through this nation; From the airport and our first/last nights stay in Nairobi, to our main accommodations in Nanyuki (4 hours away), to our 1 hour drive one way to the Maasai tribal village of Segera each morning. Through my window I saw the way mankind was meant to interact with one another. It was like living in the most awesome subdivision ever. The joy on the faces of locals as they walked and talked with each other made it almost appeared that everyone was good friends. Not once have I seen a argument, a heated conversation, a child disrespecting their parent or a parent beating their child. What I have seen, is people who care about each other." I want to share with you all the wonderful stories I experienced through bible camp each day not only with the children, but courageous stories of adults too. Like Dorcas, a 19 year old female who was almost sold as a wife 3 times @ ages 10, 12 & 14. But in each case someone stood up for her and challenged the sale. In the Maasai culture, you bring shame to your family by fighting a sale and often become outcast by the community and your own family. Add to the story the man whom risked his life challenging the father and took Dorcas in as a daughter even though he was not financially ready. Or the story of the 12 year old boy I met who's parents were killed a year ago and he currently is living in a tiny hut shared by his 14 & 17 year old brother who care for him. Or the story of Jenny, a 19 year old girl with three children whom was sold into marriage @ age 12 and the overwhelming load of responsibilities that a Maasai women must burden; Such as walking several miles one way to retrieve water in 20 liter containers sometimes more than once a day. Being responsible for the children, the home and in many cases even building the home and doing all needed repairs. --- Yes, I want so badly to go into great detail of all that I saw, and maybe I will write an update to detail the stories I encountered. Each one alone would take up the 5,001 characters allowed by yelp in a single review. But what I want I truly want to do is congratulate and promote the work being done by 410 Bridge in this area of Kenya!!! The Maasai culture is a ancient one, in which old tradition is set and there is no movement. Many of these traditions go against basic modern human rights and the people are not receptive to "new things." At one point the Kenyan government had to force leaders of the tribe to send children to school to be educated. However, only elementary school is free in Kenya. To attend high school you must pay. 410 bridge has stepped in the gap of cultural tradition and is making a way for students to fulfill their education. Great progress is being made to get girls into school and improve their test scores. Young girls were missing an average of 1 month of school per year because they simply didn't have sanitary napkins when their monthly cycle arrived, until 410 Bridge began providing them. For others it was the lure of free food that keeps children coming to school. Still for others it was dormitories build on campus to keep many from walking over 10 miles to get educated. Then there is the matter of clean drinking water for the community. Water wells have been erected and tanks that store treated river water have been brought into the communities allowing for better hygiene, shorter walks and even irrigation for farming... a hugely necessary requirement to maintain self-sustaining agriculture. 410 also provides business education to promote entrepreneurship. Something as simple as gathering goat dung for sale as fertilizer has provided a basic income for many! 410 Bridge, this isn't just an upgraded review, it is an apology for not truly understanding all that you do and how truly amazing you are! 2016/135

Absolutely the most caring, compassionate, and respectful staff I've had the pleasure of going to…read moreas a patient. Dr Jacobs is a godsend! They truly care about our health and our soul. They take their time to evaluate and listen to your concerns and then do whatever they need to in order to help you find a solution to your health. And IF they cannot do it there at the mobile clinic they have lots of referrals and resources to help direct you on who can.

I`ve been coming to the Bethesda Community Clinic for over a year now. It has always been such a…read morewonderful experience. They truly do care about helping people in need. Dr. Jacob is such a wonderful man/Doctor I've ever met in my life. He Truly stands by the doctor code, meaning he truly cares about your health and wants to help you be a healthier you! The Staff and nurses are super sweet and great to chat with. They help you feel comfortable while you are there. The lady at the desk that sets up your next appointment is always a pleasure to talk too! The Sweet people that also take your blood are very caring when they are taking your blood. They help calm you down and talk to you to help distract you from the discomfort. And last, but not least. When you walk in, their is a very sweet Hispanic lady who greets you and shows you where you can take free stuff if you need it. She will also ask you how your day is. She brightens my day every time I go in there. Sincerely, Courtney

My wife and I visited Open Hand Atlanta to volunteer our time for a couple of hours to prep meals…read more Open Hand provides nutritional meals for those with chronic diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, different forms of cancer, etc. These nutritional meals promote and prolong healthier way of life. Once you arrive and sign in, you'll be taken to a waiting room area, where Open Hand staff gives you a rundown of their history and what their mission is. You also get the rules of the prep room and are gifted a one of a kind hairnet, plastic apron, and men with facial hair gets face masks. No jewelry may be at any time. Rings, necklaces, earrings, facial piercings, watches, etc. can NOT be worn. There are different things that you can do at this space, but I wanted to do meal prep. We washed our hands and grabbed plastic gloves. Keep in mind, the gloves are different sizes. The meal prep was like an assembly line. The meal we prepped was Beef Stroganoff on Noodles with Green Beans. With a scale, the first person weighed the appropriate number for the noodles, the second person weighed the right number of beef stroganoff, and the third person weighed the right number for green beans. There is then a fourth person who wipes off any excess food from around the rim of the food container. This is important so the plastic cover will seal appropriately. It's then put in this contraption that holds multiple containers and a person press seals it and puts it to the side. This is definitely quite a process, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes easier. Some people make it a challenge against another group to see who can make the most meals. Side note: THIS PLACE IS FREEZING! The ENTIRE BUILDING IS COLD! Bring a jacket or hoody. Overall, this is a great place to come with a group or by yourself and do some charitable services. Fortunately, we came with a large group of my wife's coworkers, so we were able to knock out over 2,500 meals which was awesome! I'd definitely come back.

I volunteered at Open Hand two weeks ago (Saturday, July 22, 2017) and had a lot of fun. I didn't…read moreknow what to expect as far as working conditions, the general environment, and exactly what we would be doing. Would I be in some freezing cold meat locker? Would I be inside an insanely hot warehouse? Would I be breaking my already broken back moving heavy objects around? Would I be doing some mundane task for hours and be bored out of my mind? Fortunately, the answer to all those questions was no. I went with a big group to celebrate someone's birthday (a neat idea). Half of us did meal packing and the other half did market basket packing. I signed up for meal packing. Our meal packing session involved packing meals into bags and portioning food into individual containers (think frozen TV dinners). The food was already cooked and just needed to be heated up to be eaten. Market basket packing involves packing nonperishable foods. In this case, the food wasn't cooked and the recipients would need to cook it themselves. We signed up to work from 1pm to 4pm. Each of us had to register on Open Hand's website. After registering and reserving our spots, we received confirmation emails with information, reminders, and dress code requirements. One of the dress code requirements in my confirmation email said, "Long pants are preferred. Skirts or dresses must be shin length." I wore shorts. When standing, those shorts touched the top of my knees. My girlfriend, who also signed up for meal packing, wore shorts too. Her shorts were shorter. She ended up getting moved to market basket packing because of the length of her shorts. This wasn't a big deal, but the dress code requirements listed in the confirmation email should have been more clear about shorts or simply just said that long pants are required for meal packing. There was at least one other person in our meal packing group with knee-length shorts. When you arrive to Open Hand, the volunteer entrance is clearly marked. Each volunteer must sign in and sign out using a computer just inside the entrance. We arrived right around 1pm, checked in, and were ushered into an orientation room. The orientation was quick, about 10 minutes. A short video about Open Hand was played and then we got some in-person instruction. After that, we were whisked to our volunteer work areas. For meal packing, we had to wear hair nets and aprons. First, we helped prepare bags to place meals in, then we moved into the meal packing work area. This was a cool, clean room with various tables and assembly lines. One group was already sealing TV dinner trays when we arrived. We washed our hands and helped assemble bags with four meals in them: Monday lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch, and Tuesday dinner with cornbread and condiments (ketchup and mustard). It was pretty easy. Each person was assigned to place one or two items into each bag and pass it down. I was responsible for the ketchup and mustard. After a bag had four meals, cornbread, and condiments, it was tied and placed on a tray which was later stacked and carted off. We assembled 126 of these Monday-Tuesday meal bags. Two of our meal packing group were broken off and sent to the cornbread station where they individually bagged and sealed cornbread. The cornbread was already cooked and cut. After assembling the meal bags, we took a short break in the break room and then were called back into the meal packing room for another job. This time, we had to portion food into TV dinner trays which would later be sealed. This task was harder than the last because we had to handle food directly with our hands (wearing gloves of course) and measure correct portion sizes using scales. We packed 285 meal trays filled with chicken, mushroom risotto, and peas and pearl onions. The hands of the people scooping and portioning out the risotto and peas got tired. I helped a little bit with the peas and organizing and stacking the meal trays on bigger trays, but I mostly was responsible for placing a piece of chicken on top of the risotto. We ended up spending almost our full 3-hour allotment at Open Hand. The market basket packing group ended up finishing early, in under 1.5 hours. Volunteer Services Manager Julie Barwig was the person who oversaw our group. In the meal packing room, Andre led us for the meal bag packing and Shameka led us for the meal tray portioning. Everyone was nice and friendly. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now considering signing up to do meal delivery. Open Hand's mission statement: "Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life." The campus is located in the industrial Armour neighborhood of Atlanta near SweetWater Brewing Company and the Armour Yard rail yard on the southern edge of Buckhead.

Senior Connections is a great organization that helps seniors. If you need home delivered meals for…read moreyour parents or in-home care, try calling them at 770-455-7602. I volunteer by driving Meals On Wheels routes routinely. There are different kinds of programs depending on a senior's ability to pay but you can learn more at their website: www.seniorconnectionsatl.org

Those three mini horses are still out all the time in a dirt pit that is in my opinion unlivable…read moreand is criminal. This place should be ashamed of itself.

Legitimate bank. Friendly service. Definitely recommended. I come here every month, and no one…read morejudges me for coming back every month.

I came to the ACFB for a volunteer event with my work. This was my second time back. I always enjoy…read moremyself when I come here. The staff is all so nice and they do such a great job at explaining what ACFB is all about and how we can all do our part to contribute to something for a greater good. Both times I went, I was sorting food and making sure the appropriate things were getting passed through, and discarded if they weren't. I always have so much fun doing this, and the time just goes by so quick. It never really feels like you're working when you come here. It's just so much fun being with so many people all there for the same reason. I definitely plan on coming back in the future.