In St. Croix, Adventist Youth Donates Funds To Local Soup Kitchen
Pastor Robert Wakefield (center)executive director of My Brother’s Table soup kitchen, assists in taking food supplies to the institution, in Frederiksted, in St. Croix, US. Virgin Islands, last month, as Sigorney Dorsey, Adventist youth leader (left), Tanaya Loctar (second left), and Violet pilgrim (right) church members help with the delivery of the goods. The youth Sabbath school class at the Central Adventist Church donated funds to assist the soup kitchen in their daily feedings to the homeless and needy on the island. [Photo: Richard Dorsey]
Young people from the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands wanted to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of people who visit the local soup kitchen in Frederiksted during the Christmas season. Members of the youth Sabbath school class donated from their own pockets and collected other donations in the amount of US$750.00 to provide food to help feed the needy who regularly visit My Brother’s Table Charity soup kitchen.
“The Sabbath School Class has been looking for opportunities to reach the community,” said Vanley Pilgrin, the class teacher. “We started with three recommendations for community outreach but, because of restrictions, we were fortunate that My Brother’s Table gave us the opportunity to share.” Class members were asked to make donations in order to lend assistance to the humanitarian project.
The My Brother’s Table soup kitchen is a hub where individuals can stop for a free meal and enjoy the company of others. For a few hours, people chat with acquaintances, network, are treated with dignity despite their lot in life, and can depart with renewed self-confidence.
Sabbath School Class Teacher Vanley Pilgrim (left) hands take out disposable food containers to the cook at the My Brother’s Table soup kitchen, last month. [Photo: North Caribbean Conferene]
Carty added, “Every day from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., those in need can stop by and receive a meal. Since COVID-19, the meals are prepared for take-out but that does not stop people from enjoying the meals. On the street, they live a pretty tough life and they look forward to lunch here – it is a safe, consistent place to sit down and eat.”
“The donation by the youth Sabbath school class was [increased] by the Adventist Youth Department in order to maximize support for the initiative,” said Sigorney Dorsey, the Adventist Youth director of the Central Adventist Church. “It’s about making sure our community sees that we care and are connecting with the needs that are all around us.”
Central Adventist Church’s new community center in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, will be the facility that will provide food and hot meal distributions every fourth Thursday of each month starting in February. [Photo: North Caribbean Conference]
“This year, we will be launching our community impact initiative and named it Caring Beyond The Pews@CentralSDA,” said Rose last month. The program will begin on Feb. 25, 2021, and will run every fourth Thursday of each month. “We will be preparing and serving a hot meal and distributing care packages to the needy, the poor and street-people, as well as opening up our facility for the day where individuals, who want to, can come in, take a shower and get fitted with clothing from our community department.”
The church had built a Community Services Center for that purpose but the coronavirus pandemic delayed the project plans, added Pastor Rose. “This particular project inspired our church to take the role and mission in this part of the vineyard, to reevaluate the calling and look more seriously at going beyond the pews.”
The community center has a large commercial kitchen that will begin to be used to feed dozens of people each month.