Wednesday Night Supper Club

[jkb]

Last night I helped out at the Wednesday Night Supper Club, a program at the Paulist Center (a Catholic church) in Boston that provides meals on Wednesday nights for homeless people or anyone who shows up. It was fun and interesting. I showed up around 4:30 and helped the half-dozen people who were cooking a huge pile of food, and then a couple

Comments

[nzraya]

That's great. I love that stuff, too. I have a rule that I always have to give money to anyone who asks me, if I have a denomination on me that's under $5 (but I don't have to give out more than $2 in a day if I'm feeling hard up for some reason). And when I give them money I always try to look them in the eye and smile and respond to whatever they say in the appropriate way ("you're welcome," or "you too," or whatever) so that, while not exactly a conversation (although it sometimes is!) it at least acknowledges our common humanity.

I'm not religious, though, so I don't have an institutional outlet of any kind for my charitable impulses. I do lead a group of volunteers from my college up to the Bronx once a year to do a similar (but much more soup kitchen-y, with the lines and everything) sit-down meal and food-pantry thing for poor people who are HIV+. There, too, I'm struck by how nice all the people are, both the clients and the people in charge. But this church sounds really great.

[oleander9999]

What a great experience! I'm glad you are able to find a way to help people that feels so right and so civilized. I actually also love it that they call it the "Supper Club" which sounds both homey and kind of elegant!