Salt Lake mission labors to feed, help others
But this was not an ordinary Labor Day picnic in the park.
It was the Salt Lake City Mission's 15th annual Labor Day Outreach at Pioneer Park.
By Monday evening, up to 2,000 hungry people, most of whom are homeless, had been fed with hot dogs, chicken, beans, nachos and fruit. The picnic began at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m.
Volunteers covered in transparent plastic raincoats ducked their heads down into their collars as the wind blew a spray of rain under the tent. The temperature dropped low enough so their breath misted in the air. But the volunteers kept ladling food as people moved steadily through the line.
"I just love seeing the peoples' faces and how happy they are. It makes me feel good to help someone in a small way," said volunteer Sandra Samson, 60, of Sandy.
Volunteer Don Bonnema, a retired man living in Holladay, said it's good for people to get outside of themselves.
"We're all in a fever pitch just doing our own thing," he said. "What about serving other people and helping them out?"
The Salt Lake City Mission is a nondenominational Christian church. Along with providing food and clothing to homeless people, the ultimate goal is to have them go into one of the mission's long-term programs.
There is the local men's home and a 1,700-acre ranch in the west desert. There the homeless people enter a program that brings them closer to God while they get back on their feet physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Participants at the ranch work with animals and crops for six hours a day. The rest of the time they join in religious studies and life skills classes. They work on resumes, get caught up on taxes and work on becoming self-sufficient. Some, upon graduation, stay on to work as mentors.
"A meal for a day is just a Band-Aid. They have a nice time, but they go back to what they are doing. We also give them an opportunity," said Philip Arena, development director for the mission.
The mission offers an outreach activity for each holiday. On the day before Thanksgiving, the mission has partnered with the Utah Jazz, and that event has been held at the EnergySolutions Arena.
"It's all about people," said Steve Bailey, program director for the mission. He said he has spent time being homeless while overcoming alcoholism.
"I decided that I don't want to do this no more," Bailey said. "It's stupid. So I gave my life to the Lord. Now I want to give back."
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