By DEBBY GIUSTI
Special to The Citizen

Each year, members of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City feed the homeless of Atlanta in an outreach ministry that involves over 60 parishioners and runs from early fall to late spring. Huge quantities of food are prepared, packed into family vans and driven to the night shelter at Central Presbyterian Church on Central Avenue in downtown Atlanta to be distributed to the hungry.

“Jim Creighton started Holy Trinity's involvement in the outreach about 16 years ago,” says church member Heather Dalton.

Six years ago, when Creighton was no longer able to continue the work, Mrs. Dalton and her husband Larry took over the leadership.

More than 40 volunteers prepare the dinner and sack lunches of sandwiches, juice and fruit, which are given to the homeless men when they leave the shelter in the mornings. Although the evening menu varies, a typical meal consists of lasagna, tossed salad, garlic bread and apple pie.

In addition to the 40-member cooking team, 12-16 people take the food downtown and prepare the shelter for the night's guests. Duties include serving the evening dinner and setting up cots for the 65 men who will find respite for the night. They transform the third floor gym at Central Presbyterian into a dormitory where the men find not only a good, hot meal, but also a warm welcome and a safe environment where they can shower and sleep.

A third team of parishioners spends the night, taking four-hour shifts and watching to make sure the men are undisturbed during the night.

At 6:30 a.m. the process is reversed. Cots are taken down, the area is swept and cleaned, and the men leave the shelter with their sack lunches.

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Religion Home Page