Dear Old First and Friends of Old First,
I want to update you on what’s going on with Outreach at the moment.
It would take too long to tell you about all three ministries in one article, so this week I’ll tell you about our Men’s Winter Shelter.
Our Winter Shelter now hosts upwards of 25 men. I’d like to personally thank all the dinner teams and volunteers who have donated their time and resources to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for the guys to call their home.
Last week the shelter celebrated the Eagles big day with a Super Bowl party. Volunteers came out and donated pizza, homemade fried chicken wings, salads, chips, dessert and drinks.
On average the guys are welcomed by a dinner team who prepare a warm home cooked dinner 3 days out of the week. We’ve had volunteers prepare everything from Philly cheesesteaks with curly fries, to sirloin steaks with mashed potatoes to gourmet beef pastries with a garlic butter glaze.
In addition to the meals served, pounds of food including produce and meat is donated from MOMs Organic Market, which goes directly to feeding our shelter guests when dinners aren’t scheduled.
As of last Sunday we’ve embarked on a new initiative with our Choir Director, Holly. Once a month members of Old First’s choir and men from the shelter will come together to sing, laugh, and learn from each other.
And just this past Wednesday on Valentine’s Day, volunteer Miesha Moore come by with pizzas for dinner… showing our shelter guys some love!
Lastly, thanks to you, we have received enough blankets, pillows, long johns, socks, underwear, jackets, toiletries, snacks, gloves, scarves and hats to give to each of our shelter guests.
I have to say, that because of you Old First and Friends of Old First, we have been able to serve the men our shelter with dignity, compassion and love.
Thank you so much for making the lives of these men – a better one.
If you would like to be apart of the putting a smile on the faces of the men from our shelter, email me at athomas@oldfirstucc.org. I’d love to hear from you!
Blessings,
Alesha, Outreach Coordinator