It has been way too long since I have last blogged. I remember writing my last blog thinking, I have to get better at this, see how well that went? January 2013 was my last post!
I showed up about 3 minutes early this morning and my help already had the table set up and they appeared very concerned at my latency, haha. The preacher had already prayed over our gifts of giving. This will teach me to get there 2 minutes early! Sadly not much has changed on the streets. It seems there are new faces that mingle in with the old and the line grows longer each week. Ozzie made a cameo appearance this week; I haven’t seen him in almost a year. Chen showed up late and seemed a bit feisty this morning. James and the preacher were there also.
Something that has changed in the past 18 months since I blogged, is the help Shoulder the Cross is getting. We had 5 helpers serving coffee, sandwiches and other daily needs to our friends. Dave is new to helping. This was Dave’s second Friday with Shoulder the Cross. I asked Dave, what was it that hit you after you left last week. What do you remember? Dave explained that it was the imminent need our homeless friends have for the items the ministry provides. Not just the items but the sense of community we bring to our friends. Dave said that he was amazed at the crowd of folks that show up and how respectful they are. Dave made hard boiled eggs and helped pass those out with sandwiches and coffee.
A few things hit me this week. One is the new and old faces. We probably served at least 10 new people this week. There was Ray, Alex, John and Becky. There were several more names I have forgotten. I will work on getting better at this. Each of them were told of the Shoulder the Cross rules: Don’t Touch the Table, Wait your turn in line – no cutting the line and be respectful. Some of my regulars were there like Bruce, Curtis and the street preacher, helped the new people understand our rules.
All are welcome to help. We can always use help serving on Friday mornings. Other areas to help are with clothes folding, donations, sandwich making and cookie baking. Here are some things we often pass out that are always welcome donations: Bus passes, bug spray, kool aid packets, deodorant, batteries, watches, flashlights, sports bras, women’s underwear and many more items. If you are interested in helping, near or far let me know at brian@shoulderthecross.org. Oh yea, if you like to write and would like to blog, you can’t be worse than I am.
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