Food Not Bombs - Why Doesn't Everybody Get the Idea?

Today I spent my day with a bunch of kids who are all probably less than half my age. Anarchists everyone, as far as I know. I hope that I can call them my friends, because they are doing what so many “respectable people” are not doing, feeding hungry people. No sermon, no politics, just vegan food served to whoever comes up. They are open enough to accept me, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, to join them in their work.
We began at 11:00 AM preparing the meal. I peeled and chopped onions and washed and peeled potatoes, while someone else cut up the potatoes and someone else peeled and chopped garlic. We each had some part in preparing the soup, if only taste testing it. A rice cooker made the rice simple and foolproof. Green beans sautéed with garlic and tomatoes rounded out the menu. In true anarchist fashion nobody was really in charge and everyone contributed to the effort.
The product of our morning's labor was put into insulated transport containers and loaded onto a bike trailer with the sign, the table, the utensils and the water container. Another bike trailer was loaded with donated bread, maybe a day or so old, but the kind that I cannot afford to buy. While they bicycled to Boston Common, I caught buses and the subway to get there. Unfortunately, the spot on a church's steps where we served last Friday was blocked with a rope and marked with a “No Trespassing” sign. Undaunted, the kids set up on the sidewalk on that side of Boston Common which was easily wide enough.
From our place on the sidewalk, we served soup and rice and green beans to whoever wanted it. It was free as was the bread that anyone could take as much as they desired. There was a container for donations, but none were expected nor even requested. Furthermore, everyone was treated with equal courtesy and respect, no matter what their circumstances or appearance might be. Moreover, not only did I recognize some of our guests from last Friday, but also the kids very obviously knew many of them quite well.
I describe these young people as “Anarchists,” but there is a diversity of views within the spectrum of that category. There are probably some who have as little use for Marxist doctrine as they do for the Tea Party agenda. While they have great respect for everyone seeing them as equals, they might have a little trouble maintaining equanimity toward those who gave us obviously disapproving looks. At my age and with my training especially as a Buddhist, I can see all of these people as equal in their suffering even if it is of different kinds.
Nevertheless, I plan to continue volunteering with these kids to cook and serve free food. I am truly sad that there are places where this is not possible, either because there is not a functioning group or because it is being actively persecuted. At this time when the fortunes of so many have suffered a reversal, how can we not show compassion by feeding the hungry? Don't we all realize that it could so easily be us who are needing to be fed? Indeed from my point of view as a Buddhist IT IS US!