Sunday is usually my day to sleep in late, yet today found my alarm going off at 4:00 a.m. this morning. This month Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, is the host church for the Hotel de Zink, a program which houses members of the homeless community and provides three nutritious meals daily for them. The program is named after a kind police officer who during the depression allowed homeless individuals to stay in his police station on rainy evenings.
Although I’d heard of the program before, this year when I received an email from Joyce and Ron who were coordinating the volunteers for this morning’s breakfast, I knew it was time for me to help out. Colleen and I were at the church at 6:00 a.m. with pumpkin and chocolate and orange scones (Colleen) and grape and orange juice (me) as requested. When we arrived we found out Joyce and Ron had been there even earlier cooking pancakes. Their facial expressions ranged from serious to joyful as they made perfectly golden pancakes and tasty scrambled eggs with ham.
It was great meeting others who were volunteering as well including Cat and Ian. A quick group portrait before breakfast is served.
The homeless individuals (who I was not allowed to photograph to protect their privacy) had many great choices of things to eat. The grocery bags on the bottom shelf are filled with lunches for them to take with them. The lunches included a full meal, and homemade cards of encouragements. It was an honor to be able to work with such dedicated volunteers in the early morning hours.
by Danielle Stolman
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