December 14, 2014 archive

One of the great changes in my life over the past year has been helping out at the community breakfasts for the homeless that happen now each winter weekday morning at our church in Keene, NH. While they are held in our church building, the teams of volunteers who staff the breakfasts also come from several other churches in our community. (In fact, we're looking for one more church or other community group to step forward and help on the one remaining day that needs coverage.)

It's been quite an eye-opening experience for my wife and I, both in terms of learning about the quantity of people in our region who are homeless... but also in hearing some of the stories and knowing that while often it is very definitely choices that get people into these situations, sometimes it is instead circumstances - job losses, medical expenses, family issues - and that the line between those who have and those who have not can be very thin and fragile.

Recently a local community TV show recorded an episode with several of us who have been involved with the community breakfasts. I represented our church and spoke about some of the changes that being involved has brought about with me and our family.

Give it a listen... and if you are in the Keene, NH, area and interested in helping, we're always looking for people to help during these cold winter months!

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What are the "community" breakfasts that take place at the Keene UU Church (KUUC) during the winter months? How did they get started? How are they an example of interfaith service programs? And how can people get more involved? In this episode 501 of her show "My Karma Ran Over My Dogma", Rev. Sandra Whippie explores these topics and much more with a panel including:

• Rev. Michael Hall, KUUC minister and member of the Interfaith Clergy Association
• Charlie Gibson, member of the Catholic churches in the Keene area
• Dan York, member of the Keene Unitarian Universalist Church (KUUC)
• Marcia Winters, member of the Keene United Church of Christ (UCC)

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P.S. For the purpose of including an image for this post in the "carousel" at the top of the site, I'm including this screenshot of me talking: