Steve Vance

In October 2025, volunteers from CGI and NATS rolled up their sleeves at the Sholing Salvation Army in Southampton to support FoodCycle, a national charity tackling food waste, food poverty, and loneliness. Together, the teams delivered two evenings of community engagement that went far beyond cooking. It was about connection, compassion, and collaboration within the CGI and NATS relationship.

This is an especially long travelogue and reflects everything I did in about 12 hours in Oslo. I left the hotel and headed over to Fuglen (which means “bird”) to get a pastry and caffeinated beverage. My friend told me about this place and he said that they have a location here and one in Tokyo. I bought a 24-hour pass the day before via the Ruter app, and it expired at 6:59 PM today so I took a tram partway to the coffee shop and after leaving Fuglen I took transit partway back to the city center.

I’m co-hosting a fundraiser for John Bauters when he visits Chicago in two weeks on Monday, July 22. You can donate now or keep reading to learn why it’s important to support candidates like John. John is formerly the mayor of Emeryville, California, and is running for Alameda County Supervisor in a runoff election on November 5, 2024.