Bread of Life Feeds West Seattle Neighbors Seattle's Breath of Life Church members saw the recent economic downturn, which struck especially hard in Washington, as an opportunity to reach out to their neighbors. Their new community service ministry, the Bread of Life Community Outreach Program, officially began service in April 2003 when nine people were served a hot meal. Since then, the ministry has experienced explosive growth and has served more than 1,000 meals. The program took shape in late 2002 after Marcia Sharper, Breath of Life community services director, learned of the great need for assistance in the West Seattle, White Center and Burien communities. Bread of Life was established to serve hot meals to needy youth, homeless people and seniors. The meals are served at the church one Sunday a month and include a main dish, vegetables, salad, rolls, soup, juice and dessert. The ministry also developed a brown-bag program through which meals are taken into the community and distributed twice a month. Sharper states that she and the other volunteers are “committed to seeing Bread of Life evolve into a program that provides something more than just food every couple of weeks.” They are also making plans to open a clothing bank. Currently, the community services team is writing grant proposals for additional funding to allow the program to continue and hopefully expand to offer meal delivery and transportation to meals at the church. Caring for the poor is at the heart of Christ’s social teachings. It is our responsibility to help those who are less fortunate and in so doing, we can make a truly positive impression in our communities. In light of how far this ministry has come in such a short time, Sharper is optimistic about its future, noting that “God willing, with the little that we do, we hope to reduce hunger and bring people closer together.”
Bread of Life Feeds West Seattle Neighbors
Seattle's Breath of Life Church members saw the recent economic downturn, which struck especially hard in Washington, as an opportunity to reach out to their neighbors. Their new community service ministry, the Bread of Life Community Outreach Program, officially began service in April 2003 when nine people were served a hot meal. Since then, the ministry has experienced explosive growth and has served more than 1,000 meals.
The program took shape in late 2002 after Marcia Sharper, Breath of Life community services director, learned of the great need for assistance in the West Seattle, White Center and Burien communities. Bread of Life was established to serve hot meals to needy youth, homeless people and seniors. The meals are served at the church one Sunday a month and include a main dish, vegetables, salad, rolls, soup, juice and dessert. The ministry also developed a brown-bag program through which meals are taken into the community and distributed twice a month.
Sharper states that she and the other volunteers are “committed to seeing Bread of Life evolve into a program that provides something more than just food every couple of weeks.” They are also making plans to open a clothing bank. Currently, the community services team is writing grant proposals for additional funding to allow the program to continue and hopefully expand to offer meal delivery and transportation to meals at the church.
Caring for the poor is at the heart of Christ’s social teachings. It is our responsibility to help those who are less fortunate and in so doing, we can make a truly positive impression in our communities. In light of how far this ministry has come in such a short time, Sharper is optimistic about its future, noting that “God willing, with the little that we do, we hope to reduce hunger and bring people closer together.”
Marcia Sharper and Ruth Birth kick it up a notch in their preparation of the sandwich spread.
Roger Bryon Jr. and Garcia Jean-Baptiste assemble some tasty holiday cookie trays.
