MAC Giving Makes Holidays Brighter Throughout Community

By Jake Ten Pas

All it takes is one — a single person, a simple question, a sincere effort to improve the life of someone else. It could be a MAC member wondering what becomes of all of the club’s leftover food, or an employee asking who would benefit most from a holiday gift.

These are the sparks that can ignite fires capable of warming not just one but many. What happens, then, when a community the size of MAC joins together to ask these questions? A bonfire is built, big enough to bolster the spirits of those far outside its immediate circle of light.

Pause for a moment beside the tales below. Cozy up to their charitable glow. If the spirit should strike like a match in the night, grab a torch, and go, MAC, go!

Trading Places

When Brin Cavallero talks about “her kids,” it’s difficult to discern whether she means her own offspring or the junior members she coaches on MAC’s competitive Gymnastics Team. That’s just fine with her.

“They’re equal, I would say,” she offers. Some weeks, Cavallero sees the kids she coaches more than her own, and her athletes might spend more time with her than their own parents. “They have a bad day at school, I care. They get hurt, I cry. So, it’s really important to me that we help them become individuals who we can be proud of — not just gymnasts but people.”

That’s why, in 2018, Cavallero decided to try something different with the team’s annual holiday gift exchange. Rather than playing secret Santa to one another, why not encourage the kids to consider others in the community who might need generosity more than their teammates? Junior gymnasts began buying each other the smaller present of socks and procuring bigger gifts to donate to Portland Fire & Rescue’s Toy & Joy Makers drive. Nearly every year since, they’ve stoked this selfless blaze a little bit higher.

For readers familiar with the simple math specific to COVID times, in which at least one year always gets dropped, that means the drive enters its fifth year this holiday season. In terms of impact, Cavallero says she’s heard a fireman cry at the quantity and quality of gifts MAC members have contributed. “They’re $20-$30 gifts these kids are getting, and the fireman was just blown away that we brought in roughly $2,000 worth total, including gift cards, which are great for some of the older kids. It’s quite extraordinary!”

Renay Jacob, one of the team parents who’s helped with the drive over the years, adds that it’s a great experience for all involved. “The toy drive shows our athletes and families that MAC Gymnastics is more than just practices and competitions. The event gives us a chance to be altruistic and help others. Coaches and staff do a great job coupling the toy drive with the annual sock exchange and holiday party. It is a wonderful time for team camaraderie and celebration.”

For Cavallero, such community spirit has very personal resonance. Toy & Joy Makers isn’t just something she picked off the internet. Cavallero’s children — biological, that is — were the recipients of the program’s generosity for three years.

“It’s very humbling to reach out to a service like this. Those were probably some of the hardest years of my life. I even spent a month homeless because I had to leave my home situation and wait for a house. The first year my kids received gifts from Toy & Joy Makers was actually our first month in the new place after living in a car with my three children,” she explains.

Though her family is now thriving, Cavallero nonetheless carries with her memories of the wrapping-paper-thin margin between poverty and financial security. “As I put that first box of toys in the trunk of my car, I realized that my kids not only had a roof over their heads again, but they’d actually have something to open under the $15 fake Christmas tree that was all I could afford. That random people all over Portland, plus the firefighters and everyone who volunteers, took the time to make it happen; it was inspiring. It inspired me to get back on my feet.”

Any members who’d like to contribute to the drive can find a collection box inside the Gymnastics Arena. Other sport programs at the club undertake similar donation drives throughout the year, so it’s worth checking with specific team coaches for more opportunities to give back.

Stone Soup

There’s an old folk tale where strangers convince the people of a village to share their food with them by dropping a stone into a pot of water and saying they’re making soup.

If only each resident could contribute some small ingredient, they’d get the flavor right. Eventually, all of these “garnishes” produce a delicious stew, the stone is removed, and the travelers and townsfolk enjoy it together.

MAC member Will Denecke is that stone, and he’s ready to be removed from this narrative. “The main story here is Mike (O’Mahoney) and the kitchen staff, not me,” protests the philanthropic urban planner before eventually telling the tale of how MAC’s collaboration with Maddie’s Cart came to be.

In February of 2020, the Annual Meeting was coming to a close, and Denecke noticed an alarming amount of victuals still weighing down the buffet. “I asked the server, ‘What’s going to happen to all of this food?” and he said, ‘You’d be surprised at how much of it gets thrown out.’ I replied, “I don’t think members would be too happy about that!” Denecke recalls.

The idea was born to make the most of MAC’s unused food, and Denecke reached out to a former connection, Deacon O’Mahoney, whom he’d met while pitching in on the Portland Harbor of Hope project. O’Mahoney was, and is, involved with Maddie’s Cart, a nonprofit organization that feeds people who are homeless, day laborers, and other low-income individuals. After getting approval from MAC’s Board of Trustees, they began working with the club’s kitchen staff to salvage quality food that would otherwise go to waste and make it into meals capable of sustaining the less fortunate.

These meals are sold to Maddie’s Cart for $5 apiece, and while that doesn’t exactly constitute charity, it covers club costs while filling a vital community need at a very good price. “The bigger deal than the cost of the meals is the labor and facilities,” Denecke explains. Due to a variety of circumstances, preparing dishes at the organization’s former kitchen is no longer financially feasible. “The ease and convenience of being able to pick these up already prepared at MAC is huge.”

Denecke adds that the enthusiasm and hard work of Chef Ian Marshall and recent Events team hire Kenna Reid have been invaluable. Reid helps load the truck and distribute food, while Marshall is a culinary MacGyver, expert at patching together disparate ingredients to create surprisingly delicious soups and entrees. Denecke also credits General Manager Charles Leverton and Culinary & Events Director Erik Anderson with supporting the effort’s evolution.

“What I find most inspiring is that the staff is into this. They like it, they want it to happen, and they do everything they can to supplement these meals, and that’s really nice.”

Season’s Givings

Nearly every MAC department and program — plus a few dedicated member efforts— provides some way to pitch in around this time of year. Some of these initiatives are directed at the broader community, while others provide club athletes with additional funds or development opportunities to reach their full potential. Whether it’s the Karate Team’s Annual Wreath Sale or the Ferguson Murphy Beer Run, one can hardly toss a dreidel without it spinning into a chance to change lives.

MAC Dance Head Coach Maria Albaugh says her program always looks for ways that students can put their talents to noble uses. The program often undertakes a coat drive post-holiday season, preceding the donation of miscellaneous costumes, dance shoes, leotards, etc., to women’s shelters later in the year.

Throughout the year, MAC’s Community Involvement Committee externalizes the club’s philanthropic impulses. This past spring, the group coordinated a donation drive to provide much-needed household items to residents of the nearby May Apartment

Building after it burned down. The committee also held a Mother’s Day clothing drive for the Rose Haven Day Shelter and Community Center, and one of its recent neighborhood cleanups included a canned food drive for Lift Urban Portland, a nearby food pantry. In January, an Emergency Preparedness Workshop is planned for MAC members and Goose Hollow neighbors.

For those looking to clean up the Goose Hollow neighborhood, the committee invites members to join its AdoptOneBlock cleanup from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11. Meet in the Turnaround to pick up litter on the north side of Providence Park. To find out more, email communityinvolvement.chair@ themac.com.

Perhaps the charitable tradition members have become most accustomed to is the Giving Tree. Members can stop by the lobby to pick up a tag for a child or adult starting Monday, Nov. 27, and simply need to return their present by Monday, Dec. 11. The Holiday Decorating Committee selected this year’s recipients: Friendly House, Morrison Child & Family Services, and West Women’s & Children’s Shelter. Club Events Manager Lauren Flaherty has been involved with this drive for a few years and says it makes everyone involved feel joyful.

“This is my third year assisting the Holiday Decorating Committee with making the club so special during the holiday season. I feel lucky to be able to help bring these organizations to our members during such an important time for giving in the larger Portland area.”