My friend was recruiting volunteers for the meal program served at the Mustard Seed Street Church. They ideally want 10 volunteers but that night, there were 8 ladies. There is parking in the alley behind the church and we went up the stairs to the kitchen at 5PM. We were greeted by the staff person and started with washing our hands, putting on gloves and hair nets. This put us in a Laverne and Shirley mood all night and we couldn't help but sing the theme song, or hum it.
On that evening's menu was soup, bread, pudding, and banana. The soup and pudding were already prepared so we didn't get to get down and dirty peeling vegetables or cooking food. But there's no shortage or jobs to do. Two of us were putting together the cutlery wrapped in a napkin. Others were buttering bread, wiping down tables and chairs, and putting the bakery out in the area where clients could take them.
Closer to 7, we took out the pudding and got to put chocolates in each one. Fun! Since dinner is served at 7, we all had a job of serving food, runners to make sure supplies are stocked, and one lucky volunteer got to wash the dishes.
There can be up to 350 people for the dinner, so you never know how many to expect but there was a line up. At 7, the doors were opened and the Mustard Seed staff handed each person a plate. They came to the serving table where we gave them cutlery, bowl of soup, slice of bread, pudding, and a banana. Most people were so gracious saying thank you. Sometimes people asked for a second helping but we weren't able to provide them more.
We were serving for an hour but the line decreased for the last 20 minutes or so. The toughest part was lifting the heavy pots of soup off the stove, onto the cart, and the serving table.
At 8, we brought the food into the kitchen and closed the door. Volunteers then had the opportunity to eat. We had the soup (good with ham, potatoes, and other vegetables), bread, and banana (we ran out of pudding). The next half of hour we all worked efficiently to the kitchen cleaned with putting away dishes, cleaning the counters, sweep, and mop. Got a little sweaty but all for a good cause.
Because we worked quickly, we left at 8:30. We also donated toiletries which clients can take (good use of extra hotel shampoos!).
They have the dinner from Monday-Saturday so lots of opportunities for families (teenagers are welcome to help), work groups, and friends to spend a few hours and have fun while helping the community. I saw they have lots of openings in Sept-Nov and we will definitely do it again.
Thank you Mustard Seed for a fun volunteer experience and all the work you do to help those who don't have much! read more