SATURDAY LUNCHES

We provide lunch to the homeless in Downtown Cleveland every Saturday except the second Saturday of the month. The people we serve may be living in shelters, abandoned properties, with friends, or outside. For some this is the only meal they will have that day.

We have opportunities to help with food preparation at Cuyahoga Valley Church or with food distribution downtown.

FOOD PREPARATION

We prepare food at Cuyahoga Valley Church (CVC) and pack it for transportation to downtown Cleveland where we distribute it and minister to the homeless. The food preparation teams meet at 10:30am to prepare and package the food for easy distribution. The teams of volunteers use their kitchen skills to perform light food preparation and packaging. We have opportunities to match all cooking skill levels, from leading one of the weekly food preparation teams to wrapping sandwiches. No matter what your skill level, you will be blessed knowing your time and talent helped produce a wonderful meal for people who truly need it.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION

After the food is prepared and loaded into the van, we head downtown. Those who would like to serve food to the homeless of Cleveland should meet at the church by 11:30 am. Our goal is to leave CVC at 11:45 am, or you can meet us downtown at noon.

We always go to the same location, so the homeless community has grown to know about the location and the time. There is always a line of people waiting when we arrive. When we get there we pray, set up tables with food, station the volunteers for serving, and allow the homeless to go through the line. On occasion, we have clothing available for distribution.

We spend time building relationships with the people we meet. Many have commented that we are like family to them. Over time, we have learned about their lives and struggles. One of the things we try hard to do is to look them in the eyes and give them the respect they deserve but don't often get. We offer encouragement and hope by sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Through this very special time, we too have been blessed to meet some amazing people facing some very challenging circumstances.