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.

Friendship Banquet Needs Hosts

We've been so busy here at SF CARES I haven't had a chance to update this blog recently.  I'll write a post soon to let you know the cool new things we've been getting up to, but today I want to highlight one of our tried and true services, The Friendship Banquet.

Every Tuesday at 4:00 (excluding the first Tuesday of each month) the Friendship Banquet serves a meal that really does feel friendly.  Nice table cloths and cloth napkins on round tables that seat eight or ten.  Real plates and glasses.  A fresh cooked meal served in four courses to each of fifty or so guests at the tables in St. Mark’s social hall.  Each person greeted warmly at the door.   Everyone who has a reservation is also living with HIV and living on the margins. 

The banquet began in 1991 but suffered a hiatus between 2005 and 2010.  Phillip who revived the banquet in 2010 says, “Our guests are people suffering from HIV and their families who are living in difficult financial situations. Each Tuesday at 4pm we provide a fresh cooked meal served restaurant style to about 50 people on average . . . .Our guests spend their time waiting at the doctor’s office, the hospital, GA or Social Security offices, the Food Bank, or on the local bus system.  The Friendship Banquet provides a time for our guests to be waited upon by our volunteers in a safe, supportive and loving atmosphere, a true change in routine.” 

Many different churches and groups take turns on different Tuesdays to provide the food and prepare and serve the meal.   These days Jordan is in charge of the Banquet.  He is there to guide groups in the meal preparation and serving.  The regular crew handles set up and takes care of the dishes afterward so the group providing the food is usually only there for an hour or two of prep and then about an hour of serving. 

We have quite a few dates available as we move through spring and into the summer; May 15^th and 22^nd, June 12^th and 19^th, July 17^th, and August 21^st and 28^th all need hosts.  Please contact us at sfcare@saintpaulus.org to let us know which date will work for your group.  Financial support to help us buy food when we do not have a group to cover is also appreciated.