We are an extremely grass roots operation. Every Thursday morning we brew two urns of premium coffee at Christ Church East Bay and load them into the back of my (Bill Barnes) Toyota Forerunner. We swing by Dorothy Day House in Berkeley and grab a hundred or so doughnuts and head to as many encampments we can hit before running out of everything. We understand that a good cup of coffee and a doughnut isn’t going to remedy the devastation that we enter into. We do believe though, it will serve to remind our friends on the streets that they aren’t forgotten. We believe in a God who became human to rescue humanity from the lie that existence is nothing more than survival of the fittest. When we serve our neighbors we acknowledge the mystery of grace. We realize that we need God’s grace every bit, if not more, than they do. We are so deeply thankful for the opportunity to serve them. We know that by loving them and serving them we are serving God.
We also meet on the second Saturday of each month at Christ Church East Bay and make 150-160 sack lunches and pass those out in the same manner (with coffee!).
We don’t really know where this is all headed. If all we ever do is serve coffee and learn the names and stories of the folks we serve we’ll consider that a victory. If, by developing relationships and helping bring resources to bear, we bring healing and restoration, we will give God the glory!
Loaves and Fishes Imago Dei 