The most unusual prayer I’ve ever written was a blessing for fertilizer. This was one of many prayers I wrote for the blessing of the Free Farm, where both Bishop Mark Holmerud of the ELCA’s Sierra Pacific Synod and Bishop Marc Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California declared the site a church.
I'm sure you've seen them, all the letters that folk like me send to folk like you because we know that this is the time of the year when most of our fund raising dollars will come in. And in an economy like this one, there are loads of Executive Directors out there, like me, who are wondering if the money will come at all.
ization you give your money to.
more than 3,600 outfits, toiletries and socks a year and more than $3,000 of food a month) we get for free from donations.
y salary at Welcome only $7,000 a year more than my rent costs. You can see why a downturn in the economy makes me very very nervous. We are not an organization that can cut fluff from our budget during a tough fund raising year.
Together, with hundreds of other donors, your gift of $20, $150, $2000 can make a real difference to me.
DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WELCOME IS TOO BUSY TO THROW A FUNDRAISER. EVEN THOUGH 90% OF OUR DONATIONS ARE GIVEN IN THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, IN THIS ECONOMY WE CANNOT JUSTIFY SPENDING OUR TIME AND MONEY DOING ANYTHING OTHER THAN FEEDING THE HOMELESS AND HUNGRY. 
With more than 300 meals served and 40 volunteers, this Saturday Community Dinner at Welcome is typical of what you would find any 2nd or 4th Saturday of the month.
Volunteers begin arriving at 4pm and then start setting up tables for our guests.
Volunteers also sort toiletries and clothing that are donated by congregations around the Bay Area. We give away hundreds of clothing and toiletry items at ever dinner.
Since I my blog posts are read widely and I travel often around the country sharing the work of Welcome with congregations, sometimes we receive donations from outside the Bay Area. This week, a box of socks arrived from St. Andrews Lutheran Church in San Mateo, CA.
After the donations are sorted, around 4:30pm the desserts are cut and put on plates. Cake is a favorite of our guests. Since the craving for sugary foods are similar to those for drugs, we give our guests many sugary foods through out the evening to enable those working on their sobriety to battle their cravings.
round 5:15pm all the volunteers gather to set their intentions for the evening. Instructions are given and volunteers are able to ask questions about the dinner before it starts.
Meals are served from 5:30 - 7pm.
1. Our community dinners serve guests restaurant style (in terms of how we serve and the quality of food), instead of making them wait in a line. Volunteers have often been heard saying that the food served at our dinners is higher quality then they eat at home.
2. We eat with guests, learning their names and stories, allowing them to serve us. As a result, many volunteers discover that they receive more than they feel like they give at our dinners.
Every 2nd and 4th Saturday a month the Welcome Ministry provides a meal to 150-200 members of the community. Many of our guests are homeless or formerly homeless, many are seniors, many are low income and others come to be a part of the community.
Different congregations, students or groups provide the food and volunteer each dinner and eat with guests. For groups, like students and others who cannot afford to provide the food, dinners are sponsored by donors including the Van Loben Sels/Rembe Rock Foundation and a local AA Group (see the photo below). On special occasions we also hand out clothing, socks, help people send cards to family members and hand out blankets.
Fred, Michael and Steve are volunteers who have supported the Welcome Ministry dinners for years. They use the dinners as a way to stay sober and to encourage others to work towards sobriety.
If you are interested in volunteering at or hosting a Saturday Dinner please contact Pastor Valerie McVee (sfcare@saintpaulus.org or 415-673-3572)
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