First EPC Salvation Army Dinner

From February Pres by Dave Hall

We had our first dinner for the Salvation Army Shelter in Modesto on Saturday, January 24^th.  The January Ministry Team decided on a meal of Minestrone Soup, Tossed Green Salad, Rolls with Butter, Cookies and Lemonade.

The preparation for the meal started with shopping for the supplies and food at a couple of locations on Friday.  The cooking started at Noon Saturday with team members starting the soup and adding the ingredients at the appropriate time while others chopped the salad and put it into containers to serve as needed.  The Team provided homemade cookies, around 20 dozen (lots of cookies) for dessert.  Supplies such as knives, forks, spoons, napkins, plates, bowls and cups were to be provided by us to serve the meal.  We were also responsible for providing a drink to go with the meal, so we prepared two five gallon containers of lemonade and took two five gallon containers of water.

All items were then loaded into three trucks for transport to the Salvation Army location at 9^th and D Street.  We departed around 5:45 pm from the church to unload and set up the service lines to be ready to serve at 7:00 pm  We initially served 116 meals and then were able to serve all those that wanted a “second helping” and extra cookies. (Even thirds for some people!)

What a joy to know that on one night a small group was able to help those who just wanted a warm meal.  Thank you to the congregation for your support of the Deacons fund which allows us to do the work of God in this project.  We look forward to our next two dinner nights, February 28, and March 14 to serve as we are guided by His word.