On Monday, I helped feed 700 homeless or needy people in the Denver metro area. That sounds a lot more heroic than I feel. I felt humbled by this experience. Regis, being the awesome place that it is, had a volunteer opportunity at St. John's Lutheran Church downtown to help prepare a lunch and feed those that needed food. I have some mission leave time so I thought what the heck? I got there around 11:30am to a bustling, busy kitchen. Lunch was served at 1:00 and there was lots to be done. I saw some colleagues, but the majority of people were volunteers who dedicated almost every Monday to this task. When you volunteer for something like this, there is no orientation or training. You have to be a go-getter. I found an apron and gloves and started chopping vegetables for a salad. Then I put myself on coffee cup duty, making sure there were plenty of clean coffee cups to be had. As 1:00 drew closer, the line grew longer, until it wrapped around the communal area and outside.
A volunteer told me "Every day of the week, someplace in Denver, somewhere, food is being served to the needy. They know where to go." It lifted my spirits to know that these needy people had someplace to get their daily meal (one man told me-Honey, I can only afford this one meal a day...). I didn't socialize much, just got busy to the task of feeding people, but I did look at faces. Weathered faces. Women's faces. Some young, some old. Some Indian men, black men, older white men in wheelchairs. I felt humbled and my spirit felt lifted at the same time. This was their community...where do you go to get the next meal? They have each other's back. What would we, as a society, do without churches and community centers to provide this dignity to people? I don't know. All I know is that I am so glad volunteers and programs like this exist. It is humanity taking care of humanity. With a little bit of spaghetti sauce and sweat added on top.
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