Serve 180 neighbors experiencing homelessness who eat and pray with us here at Calvary each Sunday morning from 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. We serve our neighbors a hot breakfast, make coffee, provide clothing, find needed toiletry items, help with books, and more. We need volunteers to ensure our neighbors feel welcome.
Prepare for Sunday’s Community Breakfast by cracking eggs, sautéing vegetables, etc. during the week. In this ministry individuals as well as entire families participate to ensure breakfast will be ready every Sunday morning.
Provide our homeless neighbors with an opportunity to select much-needed clothes, blankets, and toiletries Sunday mornings from 6:15 to 7:45 a.m.
Pick up donations from those who cannot bring them down to Calvary, speak with businesses that might have gently used things to donate, or arrange to place donation bins for coats. Here is an Amazon link for gifts: https://a.co/9K01l8H.
Here is what we most need:
Water bottles/coffee thermoses • Men’s jeans or pants• Bandanas with gel we can freeze for the hot summer• Men’s t-shirts• Backpacks• Winter coats and gloves• Scrubs for the Welcome Inn• Hoodies (Anything with a hood is like gold.)• Ball caps and hats• Sneakers and other casual shoes• Work boots• Men’s belts• Recyclable bags or plastic grocery bags• Women’s handbags• Men’s wallets• Rolling suitcases• Umbrellas and rain gear• Elastic waist pants like jogging suits for men and women• Blankets• Sleeping bags• Readers• Sunglasses• New underwear, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, sports bras, insect repellent, lotion, hand cream, razors• Laundry detergent• Dryer sheets• Ground coffee• Individual servings of instant cereal, oatmeal, grits, chips• Beef jerky, Vienna sausages, tuna, anything that doesn’t require preparation with a pop-top • Washcloths and towels
Size clothes, put them on hangers, open generous donations from parishioners, arrange items, and organize the Clothes Closet so our neighbors can easily find items they need. Tuesday afternoons are a great time to come work with others, or you can come when you are available.
Tutor, collect school supplies, or mentor the children of Emmanuel Center. The Emmanuel Center seeks to break the cycle of poverty through education and strengthening young minds, bodies, and spirits within a context of Christian witness. Each year Calvary’s youth and volunteers host a carnival for the children and families of the Emmanuel Center.
Emmanuel Meal is a Christmas dinner for our neighbors who are experiencing poverty or homelessness. Calvary offers this meal before Christmas every year. You can volunteer to cook, serve, clean up, and more. Sign up here.
You also can purchase paper turkeys for $40 each to subsidize the cost of this meal.
Attend Mental Health Court, provide incentives to participants, and advocate for the program. Defendants suffering from mental illness are given a chance to have their charges dropped in exchange for completing a year-long mental health treatment plan determined by the Shelby County Mental Health Court. This ministry works in collaboration with Idlewild Church.
Be a Lunch Buddy by eating a 30-minute lunch weekly with one or two students. This mentoring relationship has proven to be a valuable asset not only for the student but also for the volunteer. Grizzlies Prep is a Title I charter school providing education to young men in grades 5-8. In addition, they prepare all students to excel academically while also demonstrating integrity through everyday life.
Provide and drop off lunch once a month for 15 unsheltered people who work or support development efforts with communication and promotional work. The Hospitality Hub connects individuals with the resources they need to begin their journey out of homelessness. Work Local provides job access and blight reduction. The Hub transports job-seeking panhandlers to clean-up sites where they help reduce urban blight while providing workers with lunch, a day’s wages, and additional services.
Welcome, serve, host, and eat lunch with attendees. This ministry works with our police department, Restore Corps, and our district attorney to respond to trafficking and prostitution in our city by offering women a safe path to a new life. LWS occurs on the second Thursday of the month.
Attend meetings and keep our parish informed and involved with MICAH. Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH) provides community organizing with three initiatives: education, integration and intercultural equity with economic equity. MICAH comprises over 50 churches and nonprofits.
Deliver nutritious meals through Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors. This ministry supports the independence of vulnerable seniors and families in crisis. Calvary’s route is the first Thursday of the month, is close to Calvary, and shouldn’t take more than an hour to complete. Sign up online.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence. Moms Demand Action campaigns for new and stronger solutions to lax gun laws and loopholes that jeopardize the safety of our families. Calvary volunteers attend meetings, help with publicity, keep Calvary informed, etc.
Calvary believes that God loves everyone. No exceptions. With this in mind, we pass out free hugs, rainbow-colored Books of Common Prayer, and treats at the Mid-South Pride Parade, especially for those who don’t have relationships with their families. Calvary volunteers help with participating in the parade, providing hugs, and staffing the booth.
We have a building next door to Calvary where we host Room in the Inn. You could help with the pick-up of guests. You could help orient other faith communities who share our space. You could straighten books. You could wash neighbors’ recycled clothes. You could host neighbors who need shower facilities. Prepare meals, host neighbors, and assist with logistics. This program is dedicated to serving people experiencing homelessness by providing emergency shelter and meals during the hottest and coldest months of the year—June, July, and August and November through March—sharing the love of God through holy hospitality. Sign up.
Chop vegetables, fill containers, and sell delicious soup. This ministry sells nutritious soup made from scratch to parishioners once a month to help fund Calvary’s hunger initiatives.
Special Friends is a diocesan group that works together to minister to adults with special needs in our city once quarterly sharing dinner, worship, and activities.
Visit Thistle & Bee at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market and the Memphis Farmers Market (Downtown) on select Saturdays. You can purchase multiple flavors of premium granola, herbal tea bags, honey harvested from the T&B hives, and a number of other honey-based items, including gift boxes for all occasions. Volunteer opportunities include beekeeping, event planning, marketing, fundraising, and more. Market products are made by women who are victims and survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution, and/or addiction, and who are a part of Thistle and Bee’s two-year residential program. Learn more at thistleandbee.org.