month, spending time together as they
make sandwiches for the homeless in
their city.
“It’s really become our thing,” says
Goldstein. “It started as a requirement,
but now we do it because we love it and
want to support Erin’s extraordinary
effort to make a difference.”
As a breast cancer survivor who
found yoga during her treatment in 2013,
Goldstein also appreciates how their
volunteer work is helping her daughter
learn one of the most beautiful lessons of
yoga: that we are all part of something
bigger than ourselves, and that we play
an integral role in the well-being of that
bigger world.
“We may not be doing yoga poses, but
what we are doing is healing ourselves
and others,” says Goldstein. “It helps us
feel very grounded. It helps us fi nd our
centre. It helps us think outside
ourselves, even for just a couple hours
each month. These are beautiful lessons
that I’ll be forever grateful my daughter
is learning.”The unsung heros
LISA GOLDSTEIN & JULIE WEINER
The Non-Profit
ONE SANDWICH AT A TIME
SEVEN YEARS AGO, ERIN DINAN a young artist and yogi living in
New York City—was running to catch a train. She’d just picked up
a sandwich for an on-the-go dinner, and just before she got on the
subway car, she spotted a homeless man sitting on the platform. Without
even thinking about it, she gave the man half of her sandwich.
“I’ll never forget the look on his face—it was this silent communication
of gratitude,” says Dinan. “It became a pivotal moment for me when I realised
the ultimate lesson of yoga: we are all connected; we just have different trials and
tribulations.”
Before this exchange, Dinan had lofty goals for how she was going to change the
world. She wanted to open an orphanage in East Africa. She dreamt of large-scale
projects that would help feed millions of hungry children in the world’s poorest
countries. But this subway experience helped her realise that she could start now, here,
in her own community—a city where so many people could use her help—one
sandwich at a time.
She began making sandwiches and taking them with her wherever she went,
handing them to people who looked homeless and hungry on the streets of New York.
Initially she wanted to talk with these people and document their journeys in a
photo-journalism project to raise awareness and decrease the kind of numbness that
occurs around problems that seem too big to resolve. Soon, her friends wanted in on
the “sandwich project,” and Dinan began hosting sandwich-making events. In 2011,
One Sandwich at a Time received government recognised non-profi t status. Since its
inception, One Sandwich at a Time has fed more than 100,000 individuals in need.
“These days, life involves big-scale problems that are so massive, it can be tough to
know where to start,” says Dinan. “Creating even the smallest change, and coming
from a place of compassion and kindness, creates a ripple effect. As Margaret Mead
once said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’”WHEN HURRICANE SANDY HIT the
northeast coast of the USA in 2012,
Lisa Goldstein knew she wanted to do
something to help her community
recover. So, she took her kids, then just
9 and 11 years old, to a local synagogue
to make sandwiches for people who
were displaced from their homes.
“Something about this volunteer work
really resonated with my daughter,
Julie,” says Goldstein. “So much so
that when she was preparing
for her Bat Mitzvah last
year and looking for the
requisite community service
project, she tried to fi nd an
organisation that would enable
her to make sandwiches for the
homeless.”
Sure enough, Weiner, now 14,
discovered One Sandwich at a Time, and
she and her mum attended one of its
sandwich-making events. More than a
year later, Julie has met her service
requirement, yet the mother-daughter
duo continue to volunteer once aGive Back Tip
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the
change that needs to happen in the
world—and feel paralysed as a result.
To overcome this inertia, choose an
effort you’re really passionate about
and do one thing, says Brook Eddy,
the founder of Bhakti Chai: “Whether
it’s donating $5 or offering a
specific skill, remind yourself
that every little bit can
make a real impact.”