Taking their cue from the Apostle Paul’s words in Acts 20:35, “By everything I did, I showed how you should work to help everyone who is weak. Remember that our Lord Jesus said, “More blessings come from giving than from receiving,” ten women from JRAM Edmonton West’s GLOW Small Group went to Hope Mission on February 9, 2019 to volunteer their services. They were joined by JRAM Edmonton West’s volunteer coordinator, Eden Ladero.
Hope Mission began as a soup kitchen in 1929. Today, it is a not-for-profit Christian social care agency caring for impoverished and homeless men, women, and children in Alberta.
The GLOW lady volunteers helped with food preparation at Hope Mission from 3pm to 6pm. They were divided into three groups, each assigned with tasks like slicing bread and filling them with butter, chopping onions and peeling and slicing carrots, and preparing the meat for cooking. By 4pm, they served out food to people who were lined up for dinner. By 5pm, they helped the staff clean the dining and kitchen areas.
While the work may seem mundane, its impact on those who served and were served is beyond measure. Because volunteering transforms lives and changes both the volunteer and the community. It is love in action, and faith lived-out for God and people.
It was a simple act of giving hands and feet to the previous volunteer summit’s challenge: “In order for us to grow, we need to respond to the needs of our community.”
And respond was what the women of GLOW Small Group did, with the intention of doing it again – and again, and again.
From left to right: Wilma, Leslie, Mariz, Lorlie, and Lyn. Giving out buns, yogurt, bread, cookies etc., with a smile.
GLOW SGM ladies giving those bread some tender “buttering” care.
From left to right: Joan, Malou, and Bheng getting serious with meat preparation.
Left to right: Mariz, Wilma, Em, and Aileen working on those carrots and onions.
Malou and Joan filling the plates with salad and salad dressing, and prepping the trays with salt and pepper, sugar, creamer, and cutleries. With them is another volunteer and the kitchen manager.
Left to right: Em, Aileen, and Bheng manning the water, coffee, and juice station.