GRATEFUL FOR OUR NEW PARTNERS' HELP TO OFFER A SATURDAY MEAL

As anyone over the age of twelve can attest – relationships can be challenging. Difficult even. But as most of us over the age of, say thirty also know – they don’t have to be. One such doesn’t-have-to-be-difficult relationship BSM has is with the Lutheran Ministries of Philadelphia. As the first season of our partnership offering Saturday meals to our guests is coming to completion, we felt it a good time to highlight this valuable relationship.

Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries is headed up by Rev Joshua Gale, and is part of the Missouri Synod. Joshua and his colleagues began providing meals on the Parkway in 2011. In the spring when the conversation about outdoor feeding became more public, Joshua and some other providers became aware of an indoor alternative at BSM. Joshua and his friends found some kindred spirits at BSM in that neither is opposed to outdoor feeding. Rather, both are in favor of indoor dining. He immediately saw a new possibility for his community and others like “Saving Saturdays” (who also provided food on the Parkway) to allow guests to experience hospitality, dine with dignity in a calm atmosphere, and provide other services like the Clothing Closet and Personal Care items (and hopefully soon our Mail Service as well).

Joshua and his colleagues from the Lutheran Ministries not only provide the Saturday lunch with a cadre of reliable and extremely competent volunteers; they also pay for the cost of providing the meal itself. They have been both gracious and generous throughout this partnering process. All of us at BSM are both delighted and grateful that they chose to “come inside” this summer. We are looking forward to continuing this partnership into the fall and many seasons to come.

Adding the Saturday meal has meant that BSM was able to provide more than 1,500 meals per month during the summer. With the anticipated additional meals we are planning to introduce as part of the Hospitality Imitative in the fall, we are well on our way to achieving our target goal for 2012 of more than 20,000 meals served. Each one served like the first one, that is one guest at a time. 

If you're interested in getting involved, we would love to have you join us!  For volunteer information, please contact Melissa DeFreece at 215-735-4847x16 ormelissa@broadstreetministry.org.  If you would like to financially support us, please visit our website.