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[Back to index of November articles] Area programs offer food and fellowship By Lucy Chumbley
Before sitting down to a hot turkey dinner last Thanksgiving, the guests at the Church of the Epiphany's Welcome Table program in downtown Washington were invited to take part in a short service. After offering up a prayer, the Rev. Randolph Charles, the church's rector, opened the floor to his homeless guests, asking them to say a few words if they wished. He stood back, and the prayers of thanksgiving rolled forth. "It always amazes me what people are thankful for when they have so little," said the Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery, urban missioner at Epiphany. "We're all complaining all the time and then people living on the streets can come in and say they're blessed. I guess when you've made it through another night and no one's killed you, no one's beaten you up and no one's robbed you, you're blessed." For some people on the sidelines of society, just being acknowledged is a blessing, Jeffery said. Yet when asked, many of these people profess a deep faith, Jeffery said: "a feeling that God is with them, getting them through this difficult time." Some of them even volunteer to help serve the meal that is set before them. While the Welcome Table - a ministry that offers counseling services and breakfast to more than 200 people each Sunday morning - is always in need of volunteers, there is usually no shortage of help on Thanksgiving Day, Jeffery said. So instead of coming to church to serve the homeless that day, Jeffery suggests that would-be volunteers come and dine with them, and give $15 to buy dinner for a guest. "What I would like to see is fellowship and community between the homeless and the downtown workers," she said. "Not just feeding the poor." In this spirit, congregation members and clergy walk in pairs through their parish on the day of the dinner, handing out printed invitations to people in the streets. The Loaves and Fishes ministry of St. Stephen and the Incarnation also has no trouble finding volunteers to help out on the big holidays, said board member Vivian McFarland. "We never have trouble getting volunteers for Thanksgiving and Christmas," she said. "We turn away more than we can use. We'd rather have No. 1, their money, and No. 2 their presence." Each Thanksgiving, the church feeds more than 300 people a midday meal of turkey and all the trimmings, McFarland said. Members of the congregation take home turkeys to cook, carve and return, and "usually there's string beans and some kind of potatoes, mashed or baked and buttered, bread - usually rolls - and dessert. Usually pumpkin pies. That's one of the things we use the donations for." And as long as there's food, no one is turned away. Because Loaves and Fishes is partly funded by the federal government's Emergency Food and Shelter Program, there can be no proselytizing, she said. But even though no prayers are offered, the program carries out God's work. "We feel that it's part of the Gospel edict to feed the hungry," McFarland said. And, she believes, it is equally important to inform the area's affluent population about the condition of the poor who live worlds away in the same city. While Thanksgiving is a special day for the fortunate, it is just another day for the destitute, said John Baldock, director of Charlie's Place. "For us to serve on Thanksgiving is not a special time or a special meal," he said. "It's just a hot, nutritious meal that for many is the only meal they'll eat that day." Charlie's Place opens its doors at 6:30 a.m. four days a week. The guests are invited in to drink coffee and eat pastries, and at 7:30 a.m., the main meal is served. "People are able to spend that time in the dining room," Baldock said. "We also have bathrooms - we don't have a shower, but people can come in and kind of wash up and shave. "I think that one thing we really work on in the dining room is to provide a safe space for people - a place where people feel comfortable and have some sense of normalcy. Always there are people talking across the table to each other - there's always a sense of community." Charlie's Place serves about 80 people each day it's open, and this year the program increased the number of days it is open from two to four - Tuesday through Friday. Baldock hopes the program will eventually be able to offer its services each weekday, but with just two full time staff plus volunteers, it is now operating at capacity, he said. "Our biggest needs probably are funding, so that we can expand the program," he said. "But we also need some staff assistance, volunteer fundraisers and assistance with some fundraising efforts. And supplies are always really helpful." Donations of razors, toothbrushes and socks are always welcome, and volunteers can sign up on the program's Web site, www.charliesplacedc.org. Thanksgiving comes just once a year, but across the Diocese of Washington there are always people in need of a meal, a safe refuge and a friendly face. So whether it's a gift of time, money or just human kindness, help is always welcome.
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