Christ the King Church Volunteers Make it a Regular Service
By David Williford from the Village News, June 16, 2009
(reprinted with permission)
On any given night there are 15,000 homeless people in the City of Houston. The homeless men and woman range from those who are simply caught at a bad time in their life to those who are deemed unemployable. Regardless of why they are homeless, they are all hungry.
The second and fourth Monday of each month, members of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Rice Village join a group of rotating organizations to take their turn serving food to Houston’s homeless.
At the church, volunteers make as many as 300 sandwiches. The cost is offset by the Houston Food Bank where, thanks to donations and charitable contributions, the “shared maintenance fee” is 18 cents for one pound of lunch meat.
Adele Jordan, communications coordinator for the Houston Food Bank, says that the “goal is to be the largest source for free food and low cost food [in Houston], so that they [individuals and organizations like Christ the King] can stretch their resources.” “We don’t pretend that we are making a dent,” says Nathan Wiker, volunteer sandwich maker and account manager for Dow Chemicals.
However making sandwiches is a relatively easy task and according to Wiker, “10 people can make 300 sandwiches quickly.” Dent or not, every second Monday the group hands out over 150 lunches, with two sandwiches in each lunch. The lunches are loaded into the back of the volunteers’ SUVs, cars, and mini-vans.
Melinda Klein, volunteer sandwich maker, PhD. and USDA researcher, says that “the lunches usually contain two sandwiches, a drink of some sort and a snack (chips, granola bars, etc.) as well as a business card for SEARCH.”
SEARCH is a Houston-based organization that is dedicated to providing a host of services to the homeless. SEARCH CEO Thao Costis says “our philosophy has always been that we can’t do this by ourselves.”
This fact is highlighted by the numbers. In 2008, SEARCH helped 6,888 homeless at their resource center. Twenty to 30 percent of those were considered chronically homeless.
SEARCH also helped another 4,684 with their mobile outreach teams. Of that number 40 to 50 percent are also considered chronically homeless.
The gap in services is clear.
***
Once the sandwiches are made, the volunteers fill the trunks and bays of their vehicles with the 300 ham and mustard sandwiches, drinks and snacks, and drive toward downtown.
From under the bridges and overpasses, from along the culverts and street corners, comes America’s lowest cast.
The volunteers swing the convoy into their normal spot and the waiting men and women gently clamor into an organized mob.
At the tailgate of the last vehicle, Tim Redl, Ph.D. and assistant math professor at UHD, and Karli McGowen, an 8th grade teacher at Pershing, hand out the lunches.
McGowen says, “It’s hard because you see the same people.” Many of these homeless people are incapable of rising above their current status because of substance abuse and dependency issues, mental health problems and broad educational needs. Most who fall into this category will never emerge from living on the streets and being dependant on aide.
Thus, according to Costis, the idea is to provide them with a solution to their immediate need. Making a dent may seem like a pointless endeavor. After all, what is 150 lunches compared the 15,000 who may need them. In the end, to the person who is accepting the sandwich, the odds are quite different.
On any given night there are 15,000 homeless people in the City of Houston.
(15,000 homeless people - Imagine filling up every pew in the nave 50 times).
Our gatherings in August will be on August 10 and 24.
Contact Tim Redl if you are interested in participating or have any questions.