Community Breakfast at Gates Fourth UMC
Gates Fourth UMC hosts a breakfast meal for the community on the fourth Saturday of each month. Guests include both church members and community members from the Merion Village (south of downtown) area. Volunteers from King Avenue assist the Gates Fourth team with greeting guests, distributing clothing/personal care donations, serving meals, assisting in the kitchen and clean-up. The kitchen and serving area is not air conditioned, so the dress code for this food service environment is casual, including shoes that can protect against hot spills. Two to three volunteers have the opportunity to practice their manual dishwashing skills, although the other tasks are less physically demanding. The mission coordinator schedules six to eight volunteers per month through e-mail. The only skills needed for this three hour commitment is to smile and the desire to bring hospitality to this diverse community.