Monday night program feeds the need
Stephen and June Jones, have been leading a team of volunteers at Feed the Need, a weekly supper program, for more than 12 years. We talked to him to get a better understanding of the program that happens every Monday night, in the downtown Halifax Citadel Corps.
How do you prepare for the weekly Feed the Need program?
We leave home around 9:30 a.m. to buy groceries for the meal that night. First, we drop by the Centre of Hope, to see if there’s something at the food bank that we will be able to use, then we finish shopping. Next, we start preparing the meal. We have a couple of friends who join us around 12:30 p.m. The other volunteers dribble in throughout the afternoon. We open the doors at 5:00 p.m., ready to serve a hot meal, a hot drink and dessert.
At least one of us will spend our time in the eating area, having conversations, and talking to the clients about how life is going for them. Sometimes they have things going on, like a medical procedure and they want prayer, or maybe there’s something going on in their neighborhood that they want to talk about. We try to be open, and considerate of what their needs are, and their needs vary.
Are you able to further help if they need something?
If they ever ask for help, we’ll do our best to connect them to the person or service that will best serve them.
Are the clients the same every week?
It varies, there is usually about 10% new each week. On any given night, we usually have 60 – 70 people come through the door.
How can people help?
We have a number of friends who come, and they come from all walks of life, university students, retirees and local people who want to help. It’s open to all volunteers. There are a group of regulars, but sometimes people bring others.
What does a hot meal include?
We serve all kinds of different meals. Tonight it is meatloaf, with mashed potatoes and vegetables, while last week it was stew and bread. We look for discounts because we work within a budget, and try to feed as many people as we can. We try to offer food to our volunteerss before they go home as well, because some of them need help also.
Why do people come?
There are all kinds of needs. Some of them are suffering from addictions, mental and physical health issues, and some are just going through a tough time.
Why do you do this every week?
I do this to share the love of Jesus Christ, meet human needs and to help
