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Food Kitchen (ODB)
Our Daily Bread is the name of a soup kitchen in Baltimore that serves one hot meal a day, between 10am and 2pm, to the city’s poor and homeless. It is staffed and run entirely by volunteers, primarily of the Catholic Charities organization. This ministry was viewed as so important by Pope John Paul II that he cancelled a number of items on his agenda during his visit to Baltimore so he could meet the workers at Our Daily Bread! After having a hot meal, guests are given a bag lunch to take with them. Our Daily Bread also has an active food pantry, which distributes canned goods to the poor and homeless throughout the week.
In addition to serving the food (a hot casserole, vegetable, bread, and coffee) volunteers also prepare the food ahead of time. There’s a rotating menu of ten easy-to-prepare casseroles that are baked and frozen, then reheated at the facility on the day they are to be served.
See below for recent testimonials!
What’s Involved?
Volunteering to serve requires driving to downtown Baltimore, putting on an apron and gloves and an attitude of humility.
Volunteering to cook requires getting some groceries (nothing fancy — chicken, rice, frozen vegetables) and coming to church for a few hours. The baking and freezing will be done at home. The casseroles then need to be brought to church for a designated pickup time.
Who Can Participate?
Anyone over the age of fourteen may volunteer at the kitchen (young children are not allowed in the facility, so if you are a parent, you will need to find childcare that day) and anyone may volunteer to help bake casseroles. Especially, though, I want this to be a youth-focused activity. This ministry was so helpful to me when I was in the youth group years ago, and I can’t say enough about the spiritual benefits that come with serving someone else, especially a stranger.
I hope you will join us in this vitally important ministry. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Recent Testimonials
We have just completed our first year of reestablishing our relationship with Our Daily Bread. For all of us who participated, we were humbled in recognition of the bounty that God has given to us and His call to us to “feed his sheep,” both literally and spiritually. The following two narratives, from Samantha and Lydia, tell of their experiences at serving at Our Daily Bread. I found it interesting that both used the eye to help explain their thoughts. Indeed, service to our fellow man takes us to places beyond what the eye can see. We realize that as we help one another, as we look into each other’s eyes, we see the majesty of God’s image in us all. I invite you all to join us next year as we continue our service at Our Daily Bread. Dates and times will be posted to the website shortly. —Deacon Mark (November 2005)
This was my first time going to do any volunteer work like this. I didn’t know what to expect. What I found is that for many people this is their only meal everyday and if they don’t like it then they don’t eat. The people who came in looked sad and tired. I just felt so bad; it made me realize how fortunate I am to have a house and food for every meal and money for clothes. The people are so appreciative even though they might not say thank you, you can see it in their eyes. I liked going to help out and seeing the reality of many people lives. It was sad to see this, but it makes you realize that the only thing to do is help or donate money and food. My overall experience was good and I plan to volunteer again. —Samantha G. (August 2005)
At Our Daily Bread, I was a cleaner. I had to wipe down the tables as each person left and put a fork and napkin in its place. While doing this, I observed the many different kinds of people and I overheard a few conversations. I thought about it, knowing that most of these people are not doing well financially; I realized that many people probably discriminate and look down on them. At Our Daily Bread, it seemed like they all felt really comfortable there, and many are friends with each other. I would talk with a few of them, ask them about their day, and some I had short conversations with. Some gave me tips for my hair, some asked about school, and some gave compliments. Although many look at them as “lesser” people, they still managed to be nice and kind to everyone. Overall, this experience teaches me never to judge people because there is more to them than the eye can see. —Lydia M. (October 2005)
Contact
Emily Lowe
Emily is a protopsalti who also oversees the Our Daily Bread food kitchen ministry. She has studied architecture and classics, and now teaches high school English, math and private piano lessons. She converted to Orthodoxy from the Presbyterian church in 1996.
Attention!
Holy Cross’ involvement in ODB is to volunteer once quarterly. We do not own or operate the facility and are otherwise not involved in its internal matters.
