the "Don't Walk By!" campaign

I'm posting some information that I received this morning, which the author gladly accepted my request to post it.

Don't Walk By is a campaign run by a partnership of faith-based ministries called The Rescue Alliance. On five consecutive Saturdays (January 8 through February 5), teams of volunteers will walk through different parts of Manhattan in an effort to engage people who may need a hot meal, shower or bed for the night. In addition to the street outreach effort, volunteers are also needed to greet guests, prepare or serve meals, sort through clothing, and assist in other ways at the host church for each of the evenings.

To read more details about the campaign or to volunteer on one of the remaining four Saturdays, please visit http://dontwalkby.org/main/how-to-help/.

If you would like to ask questions of someone from FAPC who has participated in this outreach effort, please contact outreach@fapc.org.

Street outreach volunteers are especially needed for Feb. 5.

ruthless winter to come: sleeping in ice & snow

Every year, the media and the local government advise that the elderly and children be protected from the cold. They also offer hot-line phone numbers for people to complain if they've got no heat and/or hot water. Of course, there's also the worry of the homeless -- those who sleeping in the cold streets out of no other choice. Shelters are offered as an alternative, which of course can only hold a certain number of people leaving many in the cold. In all, winter in NYC can be brutal and ruthless especially if you're cold with your body heat dropping by the minute and getting numb.

I'm listing some organizations if you care to help or need help.

• Coalition for the Homeless
  http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/
• NYC Department of Homeless Services
  http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/home/home.shtml
• New York Homeless Shelters
  http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/newyork.html

What I just wrote above is absolutely nothing unless you've lived through this. Do something. At least, support whatever outreach ministry your church offers. Said the latter, if your church doesn't have outreach programs, find another church.

cold, tasteless spaghetti

Some churches still have soup kitchens in NYC. This form of outreach ministry helps many men, women and children with hot meals that they'd otherwise not have. This is the side of NYC and America that we turn a blind eye to and that tourists prefer not to see or never really do.

Growing up (1984), my parents ran into some monetary issues and we ended up asking for free non-perishable foods like canned vegetables and dry milk from different churches including the Riverside Church (http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/), which would send you home with two bags of groceries only once a week. It was quite embarrassing for me at the time to be the subject of this charity.

There was this church somewhere in Manhattan where one day my father and I ended up eating cold spaghetti with hot tomato sauce. We were surrounded with homeless and much more needy individuals. You might call this a crash course in humility. I'd like to go back to this church to have a plate of cold spaghetti with tomato sauce once again. Unfortunately I've got no idea what church this was.

At the same time, the Riverside Church (http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/) and its charity will always have a special part of my heart and soul. This church was there for me when I could have been hungry.

In all, this is what Christian churches were like in the early 1980's. Nowadays it's much more different with tighter budgets, lawsuits and other obstacles. Nonetheless some churches and religious organizations still offer this form of outreach ministry -- Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (http://www.fapc.org/), Jackson Heights Seventh-day Adventist Church (http://www.jacksonheightschurch.org/), the Bowery Mission (http://www.bowery.org/) and others (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=soup+kitchens+nyc).

Perhaps we should all serve a soup kitchen at least once and share a meal with those in more need that we could ever be.