Helping the homeless

In July, several members of the Connect group and friends were able to help prepare and serve a meal to homeless men at Operation Sack Lunch in downtown Seattle. As you can tell from the previous post of our group pictures, we had a great time! Our chef was very funny and very welcoming. The homeless men we served were part of the Compass Center Men’s Program. A transitional housing with case management-based housing for 78 men. Meals are provided, participants may stay up to one year; in exchange they must be clean and sober, and pay 30% of his income. The men were very appreciative of our help. Some more louder than others, but we also heard the quiet ones.

The moment that sticks out for me was when a couple of us volunteers let a homeless man in the secured building because he said he had an appointment at 4 PM. He had a gray beard, stood about 5'5", looked in his early 50's and had 2 large, black, plastic, garbage bags with him. We told the chef who located the coordinator. He was early, it was 3 PM. They sat him down in the cafeteria and the chef asked him if he ate today. He said, "No ma'am." Then she said with a very upbeat voice, "We'll take care of that." and brought him some snacks to eat. It was a hot day. I can't imagine being without water or food for that long or even longer. I wouldn't know what to do. Homelessness can happen to anyone at anytime. This link lists our basic survival needs in this order: shelter, water, fire and food.Basic needs We take these basic needs for granted everyday and we shouldn't. So I pray and thank God for opening our hearts to help those in need. I thank God for giving us the strength that each person can make a difference. I pray to God to help end homelessness and hunger.

I hope to create with the group a bookmark with a prayer, possibly with a pocket-sized Bible, to hand out to the men the next time we volunteer there. Help guide them on their journey...this new door of hope. Please take the time to check out their site Operation Sack Lunch to learn more about this great program and see how else you can help make a difference to end hunger.

Thank you to Rhea, Jeffery, Phil, Suzanne, Jonathan, Kristen, and Jordan for volunteering your time!