Soup kitchens and homeless shelters

[Red Ryder]

Another post made me think of a few things about soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

Do other churches really spend time and resources on soup kitchens and homeless shelters? Or is this an idolized stereotype made for TV and movies? It seems that these are left up to other charitable organizations rather than churches. In a past professional life I've worked with people from both churches and non-profit organizations. The churches were set up to serve the people that attended while paying the clergy quite nicely in some instances. The focus was on religion and community. Service was based on community projects or supporting causes through monetary donations given to the church first, than passed through on behalf of the members of that church.

The non-profit organizations were staffed with few employees and many good people who volunteered (who may or may not have attended church.)

Do we as disaffected Mormons fantasize about soup kitchens and homeless shelters as a way of coping with the endless hours of meaningless self service Mormons are known for? We complain frequently about the Mormon church not supporting these causes, but how many of us actually volunteer at one of these places now? I know I don't. Maybe it's time I look for an opportunity to.

[Korihor]

A close business colleague of mine does donate/service to feed the homeless.

Every year, they organize an event right close to or actually on thanksgiving day. They make Thanksgiving Dinner Burritos to distribute to the homeless around downtown Phoenix. It's basically what it sounds like. A thanksgiving dinner rolled up into a burrito. I haven't seen this personally, but from what he told me, it's pretty big. Like almost 2 lbs each.

The volunteers mostly belong to his church group. The event is planned a few weeks in advance and they start cooking certain things a day or two before. The night before, they cook the turkeys. Then around 2 AM they start carving the turkey and making the burritos, filled with standard stuffing, potato, yams, etc.

They do it at someone's house, set up several folding tables and have quite the assembly line. Around 5 am, it's all loaded into coolers into the vehicles, then they drive around the city to distribute. I think they help about 1,000 people.

I was fascinated at this story. I heard it just after my shelf snapped and was floored that other churches genuinely help people just because.

This is not an official event done by a certain church. Just regular folks taking initiative to be good Christians. That's enough for me.

[Give It Time]

A close business colleague of mine does donate/service to feed the homeless.

Every year, they organize an event right close to or actually on thanksgiving day. They make Thanksgiving Dinner Burritos to distribute to the homeless around downtown Phoenix. It's basically what it sounds like. A thanksgiving dinner rolled up into a burrito. I haven't seen this personally, but from what he told me, it's pretty big. Like almost 2 lbs each.

The volunteers mostly belong to his church group. The event is planned a few weeks in advance and they start cooking certain things a day or two before. The night before, they cook the turkeys. Then around 2 AM they start carving the turkey and making the burritos, filled with standard stuffing, potato, yams, etc.

They do it at someone's house, set up several folding tables and have quite the assembly line. Around 5 am, it's all loaded into coolers into the vehicles, then they drive around the city to distribute. I think they help about 1,000 people.

I was fascinated at this story. I heard it just after my shelf snapped and was floored that other churches genuinely help people just because.

This is not an official event done by a certain church. Just regular folks taking initiative to be good Christians. That's enough for me.

This sounds fabulous!

There have been years I want to help out at shelter but I remember at the last minute and you have to reserve your spot several months in advance.

Other times I've wanted to help out on a hotline, but it's hours of training and then volunteer by shift work. The commitment isn't small. I don't think it's lack of commitment, desire or compassion. I think it's busyness, for whatever reasons.

[asa]

There is a simple solution . I serve once a week or so for about 4 hours preparing and serving dinner to 200 -300 homeless people at a Catholic run shelter in Mesa We are always looking for volunteers for even a single night,. No long wait times. No long term commitment PM me if in Az and I will give you the details. ps it is remarkably rewarding and fun to boot