Hosts Needed at the Friendship Banquet

A program of St. Paulus Lutheran Church in San Francisco, The Friendship Banquet serves a restaurant quality three-course-meal every Tuesday at 4:30pm to individuals living with HIV/AIDS who make a reservation each week.  

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 Friendship Banquet provides restaurant quality meals and hospitality for some of the most vulnerable residents of San Francisco.

How Can You Help? Hosts are needed to prepare a three course meal for about 45 guests.  You can sign up to help once, once a year or once a month.  Groups bring the ingredients and cook or heat prepared food at St. Mark's Lutheran Church (where the meal is served).  If you're interested in hosting a meal, but costs are a barrier, the SF CARES volunteer coordinator can work with you to get many of the ingredients for the meal donated.  

Ready to host a meal and want to set up a date?  Email sfcares@welcomeministry.org and let us know you're interested in hosting a Friendship Banquet.

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.

What do we have to offer each other?

Desserts for the Hospitality Hour at St. Francis

Have you checked out the ‘Get Involved’ tab lately?  It’s right up there, two 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 opportunities to develop a heart for service, a list of volunteer positions available, and what kind of donations we’re looking for. 

I’m going to highlight a couple of 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 SF CARES and our collaborators use. 

If you clicked over to the Get Involved tab, you saw that the first things on the list are the things we would like to offer you: a variety of worship experiences, opportunities to meditate, opportunities for self-reflection and learning and fun.  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 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 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. 

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

Every Thursday

• 5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m. Bring Food for 70 to Open Cathedral Mission (Mission and 16th St. BART station).  This can be a very simple meal - a sandwich and drink to take away is fine.

Every Night:  

• Crisis Line Counselors, at Night Ministry.  Our next Inquirers Evening is June 14^th at 6p.m.  There is more about what’s involved in this older post.  Only the training dates are out of date, everything else is the same. http://sfcares.blogspot.com/2011/08/font-definitions-font-face-font-family.html

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