A Day at Holy Apostles

My son and I had the pleasure of spending the better part of today volunteering at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. This program, established in 1982, serves well over 1200 hot, nutritious meals everyday, including holidays, and has not missed a single day since its inception. For many of the guests, their meal at Holy Apostles is their only meal of the day.

Brooke, my friend from college days, heads up the volunteer and counseling programs at Holy Apostles and happily got us plugged into today's food program. An enormous about of time and energy and coordination goes into making this happen smoothly each and every day.

My son Tai was assigned to coordinating various services such as haircuts, handing out toiletry kits, scheduling free medical, optical, and dental exams, as well as coordinating clothing distribution. He was easily the busiest person there today, and cheerfully dove right in. (yes, I peeked over in his direction from time to time).

I was in charge of making sure my tables were kept clean, that there was ample water and milk, and helping anyone with mobility issues carry their trays, or get cups, utensils, etc.

From the moment the doors opened, an unending stream of people poured into the church sanctuary, accompanied by tray after tray after tray of hot food being brought out from the kitchen to keep the trays replenished. The room hummed with activity, yet never any tension or stress. There was conversation in the air and everything came together perfectly, right down to putting away the last folding chair when the day was done. What a warm, and convivial and safe environment Holy Apostles has created for all, guests and volunteers alike, in the midst of a city often depicted as being cold and impersonal.

If anyone reading this is in the New York tri-state area and would be interested in lending a hand, please visit Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen for all the details.

Pictured above - a few of my wonderful fellow volunteers.

See more photos from the rest of my day.