helping the homeless
Several times a week our volunteers feed the homeless in Brighton Beach. Not only is this an opportunity for volunteers to do a good deed, feeding is an important step towards building a bond of trust between our team and the guys on the street, a kind of bridge that our new friends are not afraid to step on.
If we were to describe the chain of activities that make up the feeding process, the first link would be the culinary process: according to a predetermined schedule, volunteer chefs prepare the soup for a certain number of servings. Volunteers then pick up the finished product and take it to the feeding site, and this is where men's help is required.
The Georgian cafe Bread in the Oven in Brighton has been donating delicious bread and plastic crockery for years. So, soup, bread and crockery are the bare minimum to feed the hungry.
How the food distribution is organised
prayer
Before handing out the food, we spend about 15 minutes singing prayers, setting up icons and reciting prayers familiar to every Orthodox Christian right at the feeding place - whether it be the entrance hall to a metro station or a gazebo on the seafront: "Heavenly King", "Our Father", "Virgin Mary" and others.
Food distribution is a precious opportunity to socialize with the homeless. They may come up with individual requests (for example, to get a card to use the laundry; to take a shower, to get medicine and so on - there can be many situations). It is a prime time to make appointments for rehabilitation: we arrange a time and if they have enough willpower to come to the agreed place and time, we take them to the Rehabilitation Centre in one of the city hospitals.
From time to time we are able to offer something other than the usual soup, or distribute clothes and shoes.
Volunteers feed 3 days a week, but together with two churches in Brooklyn, our total schedule covers 6 days each week (except Saturdays).
From time to time we are able to offer something other than the usual soup, or distribute clothes and shoes.
Volunteers feed 3 days a week, but together with two churches in Brooklyn, our total schedule covers 6 days each week (except Saturdays).
Most important
The most important thing is the people.
Feeding schedule for homeless people
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