Volunteers Needed Saturdays and Sundays at the Hospitality Hour Program at St. Francis Lutheran

A partnership of St. Francis Lutheran Church and Welcome in San Francisco, The Hospitality Hour Program serves breakfast every Sunday at 7:30am to the homeless and hungry living in the Casto/Duboce Triangle Neighborhood.  

Why this Meal is Important? 56% of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco do not have enough food to regularly take their medications.  For many HIV+ individuals, their food insecurity are due to limitations on income that are a part of local and state health care requirements.  The Hospitality Hour provides breakfast and hospitality to some of the most vulnerable residents of San Francisco.

How Can You Help? Individual and group volunteers are needed every Saturday from 9:30am-1pm to sort food donations and prep food and every Sunday from 7:30-9:30am to serve food, eat with guests and help us clean up.  You can help once, annually, monthly or weekly.  Let us know your coming or simply join us at St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St.) Volunteers need to push the button marked "parish hall" on the front gate to enter the building.  

Ready to start volunteering?  Email sfcares@welcomeministry.org and let us know you're interested in volunteering at the Hospitality Hour on Saturdays and/or Sundays.

Want to learn more about this and other opportunities to volunteer at SF CARES programs?  Fill our our Volunteer Information Form and will help match you to available opportunities.

Welcome's Third Saturday Trainings on How to do Urban Ministry Well

Do you wonder how military budget cuts and the high rate of homelessness and unemployment amongst veterans can affect your community?  Want to learn what resources you can refer veterans and homeless veterans to in San Francisco?  Or, perhaps you want to know how your congregation can support the work of the VA in supporting homeless veterans.

Come and learn about resources available to veterans in our community as well as have a chance to ask an expert any questions you may have on this topic.  Welcome Ministry continues its third Saturday series on doing urban ministry well on April 20^th with a visit from Chris Windle, an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer with the San Francisco VA.

The Welcome Ministry invites ushers, deacons, social ministry volunteers and anyone who is interested, to join us for our monthly trainings and support gatherings every 3rd Saturday from 1-3pm at St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St).  The first hour we will learn, the second hour we will support each other and learn what is working at other San Francisco congregations.

If you would like to learn more or ensure that you get future updates about these trainings, please contact The Rev. Valerie McEntee at sfcares@welcomeministry.org.

Please RSVP to Valerie if you plan to come so we can be sure to have enough materials.  Please note, you will need to push "Conference Room" on the gate near the Memorial Terrace to be buzzed in when you arrive.

We look forward to seeing you on April 20^th.

What do we have to offer each other?

Desserts for the Hospitality Hour

Have you checked out the ‘Volunteer’ tab lately?  It’s right up there, three tabs over from the ‘Home’ tab where you’re reading.  That was easy to find, wasn’t it?  If you click on it you will find a list of the volunteer opportunities Welcome has to offer.  We’ve got some great new ones thanks to our collaboration St. Francis Lutheran.

I’m going to highlight a few service opportunities below because that is where we are most looking for help right now, but what I want to write about is the kind of different model Welcome and the other SF CARES collaborators use. 

Did you know that in addition to all the ways you can help us, there is a whole list of things we would like to offer you?  Each week, in addition to being able to sit with, serve and learn from those we serve, in addition to being able to go over to the Free Farm and get your hands in the soil, Welcome and the other SF CARES collaborators offer a variety of worship experiences, opportunities to meditate, opportunities for self-reflection and learning and fun.  You can find the whole list here. Details for our new third Saturday trainings are below.

Everybody who serves with us and everyone we serve has something to teach and something to learn.  Everybody who serves and everyone who is served needs nourishment.  So many of our volunteers tell us they get more out of serving than the feel they are giving.  That may be so.  Either way a little extra to replenish one’s soul can only make it more true, can only leave one more ready to serve and be served.  So even if you aren’t ready or able to help with the specific needs below, come get you spirit fed at one or more of our programs soon.

Every Wednesday:

• 10a.m - 2p.m.Senior Program, (152 Church St), activities, lunch and hospitality for seniors are provided at St. Francis Lutheran Church.  We are looking for people to help serve the meal, to sit and visit with our guests, and to assist them as needed.  We can use kitchen help from 10a.m. until 1p.m.and folks to help clean up from 1p.m. until 2p.m.

Every Saturday:

• 9:30am-1:00, Hospitality Hour Preparation, (152 Church St) Food sorting and some prep work.  Come help us sort donated food and do some of the prep work for Sunday's meal.

Every Third Saturday:

• 1:00p.m - 3:00p.m. Urban Ministry Training Series (152 Church St) Come join us to learn about a variety of topics to improve the safety and welcome of your urban ministry or program.  Everything from maintaining good boundaries to dealing with challenging guests to what is the most helpful menu for your feeding program to nourish your guests and reduce waste.

Every Sunday:

• 7:30am, Hospitality Hour, Hosts, (152 Church St., just up from Market) Servers, Cooks, Dishwashers, Clean up at St. Francis Lutheran's Hospitality Hour.  We will soon be in need of a volunteer to power wash the sidewalk at 9:00am.

You can see the details of these projects here.  http://sfcares.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-newest-project.html

You can contact us at 415-673-3572 ext. 105 or sfcares@saintpaulus.org to learn more about any of our opportunities.  And come back here regularly and click the Volunteer tab to see what’s available to you to receive as well as for you to do.