Today we spent the entire day at Father McKenna Center and there was a lot going on. Right when we woke up around 7am some of us went to the kitchen and started getting breakfast, coffee and tea ready to be served. A lot of men stopped by to have a meal and escape the cold. Right after we cleaned up it was time to start the prep work for lunch. We made spaghetti, tomato sauce with sausage, salad and served some fruit as well. At noon about 40 men came to get a meal. However, before eating they spent an hour in a meeting getting to know some of our group members. They shared their stories and really opened up. When lunch was over we got a break. Around 3pm some of us helped prepare personal meals that we packed into boxes for about 50 people that get their meals delivered. After that was done we got to relax and talk to Tom who is the man in charge here at the shelter. He was kind enough to share many stories about the people he has met and how he got to have the job at the Father McKenna Center. Once that was done it was time for more kitchen work and some of us helped set up and serve dinner. We also ate dinner with the men that came in and had some wonderful conversations. Then we had our nightly reflection and talked about the men we met and talked to today. Many of them made an impact on us and changed our perspective about certain things. We all feel so grateful that we have gotten the chance to be here, serve, and make life changing connections with people we have come to know. Everyone is sad that tomorrow will be our last day volunteering before we head home on Saturday. This is why we plan to make tomorrow count and work extra hard.

Until next time,
Sara

Me checking in on the tomato sauce and sausage.

Ashley and Ashley doing some dishes.