Quakers are well situated to assist 'Occupy'

The American Friends Service Committee could not be better situated to help support the Occupy Philadelphia movement.

Spiritually and philosophically, the Quaker organization devoted to peace and social justice feels a natural solidarity with the hundreds of protesters camping out at City Hall.

Which is nice.

But it is on a more fundamental level - way down at the foundation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs - that the committee has reached out to the high-minded masses.

It's letting them use the bathrooms.

For 150 years, the Quakers' venerable headquarters in a brick building at 15th and Cherry has opened its doors to people engaged in peaceful protest, said Patricia McBee, executive director of the Friends Center. "Women's suffrage meetings were held here, protesters involved in the antislavery movement and in the antiwar movement during Vietnam," she said. "We don't know how long this will be an occupation, but we will continue to support them as long as we can."

An estimated 35 to 40 protesters have been using the restrooms on the building's first floor since the Friends Center extended this humanitarian service Oct. 6, said Eric Erickman, who mans the front desk. Unlike some of the New York protesters who have trashed (to put it politely) the facilities at restaurants around Wall Street, the Philadelphia occupiers have been clean and respectful.

"I make it a point of smiling at them when they come in and making eye contact," Erickman said. "I think it helps."

The occupiers have also been given permission to use the center's large kitchen, which is ordinarily reserved for banquets, large meetings, and Sunday coffee hour after services.

Earlier this week, a dozen volunteers from Occupy Philly lined up along a gleaming stainless steel table, chopping mountains of tomatoes, washing lentils, and tending vats of soup and sauce simmering on the industrial-size stove.

Crushing cloves of fresh garlic with her bare palms, Caitlin Murphy said she was devoted to the cause.

"It's very complex," she said. "There's so much wrong, we're trying to find out what we can do about it. It's like an open forum."

Murphy, 21, grew up on Long Island and finished a year of college at Alfred University, south of Rochester, N.Y. She moved to Philadelphia two months ago, she said, because there were no jobs in Upstate New York, and has been working as a visual artist and a canvasser for a public-outreach group.