I rode down to the Occupy DC location on K street Sunday Morning. I found out was sick on Monday, so I hope I didn’t leave anything behind.

I wanted to stop by and show my friend from Maryland what was going on. I have to admit that he was being very closed minded to the movement, and had a typical 1% mentality. His opinion drastically changed once we went down to the site and he saw how people were living in consideration with the snow and wind that hit DC on Saturday through Sunday.

He was actually upset that they were not getting any support from the city, and that many of these ‘kids’ were sitting there in cutoff t-shirts. He then understood why I grabbed two blazers, and a bunch of button down shirts that I no longer wear. Granted, this is not your ideal winter gear for camping out on the streets, but its better than a lot of these people have.

I also learned while visiting the “comfort station,” a station that gathers clothing and blanket donations, that they are having a real problem keeping the clothes dry. It is not just a matter of keeping the clothes covered, but due to the weather and air, the clothes still feel damp, and occupiers are unwilling to take them, fearing that it would not be sanitary.

I wanted to do one big thing over the next weekend or this week in addition to everything that Jane Hamsher and FDL are doing with the #OccupySupply Fund. I wanted to go down there and help cook a dinner/meal. I want to see how many mouths are actually fed, and also just to help.

What would you all recommend to cook for the occupiers of DC? They do have propane and pots for cooking, so it does not have to be a cold meal.

I am taking suggestions and let everyone know what I have decided on. This will be out of my pocket, but if you do want to donate to the occupy supply fund, where we are delivering warm winter clothing to DC and occupations across the country you can click here! Jane has been working hard this week with union shops across the country to get warm clothing to occupiers who are in need. 100% of the donations made to the occupy supply fund are going to warm clothes and supplies to help people make it through the winter.

Help Kevin Gosztola purchase & distribute supplies from the Occupy Supply fund.

Occupy DC may not have it all together on their winterization plan, but at least they have warm food.

Lisa Derrick contacted me late last night after her visit to Occupy Los Angeles. She was deeply upset to see that the occupiers in LA did not have enough food to go around. She told me that people there were consuming less than 500 calories a day, which is much lower than any person, of any size should receive. Not only are they consuming a low number of calories, but the calories that they are consuming are definitely not healthy ones.

There are close to 1000 people there who are lucky to receive one REAL meal a day. They are occasionally fortunate to have local restaurants bring them bowls of rice and supplies to eat with, but this is not a regular occurrence. To make things harder, only packaged food or food from health department certified restaurant kitchens can be dropped off, which is a regulation of the Health Dept. for feeding groups. Lisa is going to be livestreaming today at 3pm Pacific time, 6pm Eastern. I have been fortunate to visit Occupy DC a few times and they have their definite needs, but for the time being are doing well with food. They have quite the kitchen operation, and last night they were serving pasta. Food, however is not something you can do without, and without our help, Occupy LA could be ending their stand soon.

Thanks to many of your generous donations we were able to send Lisa down to Trader Joe’s for a big haul. This afternoon she will be delivering:

- 100 jars of peanut butter

- 20 jars of applesauce

- 30 loaves of bread

- And hundreds of dollars of canned fruit

That’s just the start. Lisa is still shopping and will show all the great things she bought for the occupiers tonight. Click here to help Lisa deliver more goods to the 1000 people in Los Angeles.

Food for #Occupy LA!

In other news: Last night, Jane Hamsher, Matt McKinnon from the Machinists Union, and I went to the 8pm committee meeting on winterization. This was their first meeting so they were really only brainstorming Ideas. We hope to help them out with warm clothing and supplies soon, along with effective strategies to outlast the winter.