February 2011

We switched things up this month and had our adventure before serving.  A group of us met at the Value Village thrift store in Laurel.  We paired up and each person had to buy an outfit for their partner.  Once we were all clothed in ridiculous outfits we went to Monster Mini Golf in Elkridge!

Monster Golf was a blast!  Kind of like Rock-n-bowl meets put-put.

After mini-golf we headed over to Bethany United Methodist Church to volunteer at the Grassroots Cold Weather Shelter.  As soon as we arrived some of the guys went over to the mall to pick up the guests while the rest of us got busy in the kitchen.

The kids were eager to help make dessert and set out water pitchers on the table.

The rest of us finished dessert, pulled pork and set up the food to dish out.

One of the unique things about the Cold Weather Shelter is that the location changes from week to week.  Because each church only gets one week to host, the volunteer line-up is impressive.  Everyone brings out their best for the guests.  The man in charge of food on the night we volunteered told us he woke up at 5:00 that morning to start cooking the pork.  It was restaurant quality.  He also made his BBQ sauce from scratch.

Out of respect we didn't take pictures of the guests.  Once they arrived we served them dinner and then made our own plates and sat down to eat.  They were really surprised and pleased that we ate with them and listened to their stories.  Each one of us was touched by what they had to say and many in our group expressed that this was, by far, the best and most meaningful of our service trips.

Thanks to everyone who came out in February!  See you again in March.