SALT LAKE CITY — Pastor Shawn Clay was busy Tuesday, getting donations together for the Salt Lake City Mission’s annual Christmas event.
“Everybody deserves a meal on Christmas time and to not be alone,” he said. “People who either can't afford a meal for the holidays, or they don't have anyone to spend it with, or there's people, you know, we have such a generous community. There's people who want to donate their time for two people and organizations that need some help at this time of year.”
It's the mission’s 38th year feeding the community and on Christmas Day they anticipate helping around 1,500 community members.
“There's a lot of people out here that really do need some help, and it's brilliant when you can give people things that they are not used to having, or a nice, warm blanket,” explained volunteer Rochelle Thomas. “The feeling of knowing that it keeps them warm for one more night, it's really exciting.”
Serving the community isn't just limited to Christmas Day for the mission.
“We do outreaches, and we have a bus that brings people back, anybody that needs a safe, warm place to be, and we serve breakfast, and we also serve a hot lunch every day,” said the pastor.
The need for the event has grown and the mission’s food pantry is serving more people than ever.
“The clients have changed so much now we're seeing more families than any time before, mothers and fathers with children coming,” said Clay. “We've even found that people that were donors, now they're in line to receive help.”
The pastor added that even donating just one can of food makes a difference.
“Anybody can give no matter where you're at in life," the pastor said, "whether you have a lot or whether you have a little.”
