The Las Vegas Catholic Worker is full of hopeful and helpful people, working daily to help the numerous homeless and needy in our community. Every Wednesday-Saturday they wake up earlier than most do when they could instead sleep in and begin making large pots of food for the homeless. Their menu consists of vegetable rice dishes, meaty macaroni and cheese, a highly talked about spaghetti, and the once a month pancake day, and the fun hot dog day. Along with these main dishes they serve cucumber salad, potato salad, cakes, cookies, fruits, and pastries donated by Starbucks. The food choices for the many people in line are numerous and change every day, giving them something to satisfy their different taste buds. The number of people that come to be fed can vary anywhere from 100-200 people in need of help line up and wait for their morning meal. Many of the homeless get out of line in order to help the volunteers set up the food stations, carry the heavy pots of food, and set up tables. Not only is food shared but conversation, and a genuine sense of charity and the feeling of being cared for is exchanged from both the volunteers and those that stand in line. The time given by the volunteers is short, an hour at most, but the impact from their friendly smiles and encouraging conversation is well worth it.
Phi Theta Kappa's Nevada chapter Alpha Xi Beta has chosen to volunteer with Las Vegas Catholic Worker regularly; in hopes to increase the number of volunteers, help educate the community of the problem and need for help, and gain education of their own through their experiences. Experiences of mine will be posted weekly, but we are hoping that the view points and experience of a different volunteer every week will be shared. We encourage any and all who are interested volunteering to do so, and to continue to read our posts and help us spread the word about this project we have begun.
