Dear St. Joseph Shelter Meal Provider

Dear St. Joseph Shelter Meal Provider,

Thank you so much for volunteering to bring a meal to St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter. We want to share with you a few guidelines that will help make your time at St. Joe’s a pleasant experience for all involved.

We usually have five families at St. Joe’s which generally means we have between 20 and 25 people who will be having dinner. To get the most accurate count possible, we ask that you call a day or two in advance of bringing your meal to get the current count and to confirm with us that you will be bringing dinner on the date scheduled.

We ask that you bring a balanced meal – entrée, salad, vegetables, fruit, bread, dessert – or any combination that would make a complete meal. We can always use juice or milk if you would like to include a drink with your meal.

If several people such as a church group, confirmation class, or community organization are working together to plan and prepare the meal, we ask that a group of no more than 5 or 6(including adults if you are with youth) bring the meal to St. Joe’s. Any more than that and the group can not work efficiently in our kitchen. Larger groups tend to intimidate our guests too. This is their temporary home, and our goal is to make families feel as comfortable as possible during their stay with us. If you interact with our guests, try to keep the conversation light and avoid asking too many questions. We want to respect our guests’ privacy.

There are several ways you can provide a meal for the shelter. Some providers get everything ready at home and drop it off early in the day, then our staff finishes cooking it off and setting it up for dinner. Other providers like to come to the shelter with the dinner ready to go and then help staff to set the meal out for guests. A few of our providers come to the shelter in time to do most of the preparation here. How ever you chose to prepare and deliver the meal, we ask that everything be ready to serve dinner at 6:00 P.M.

When the meal is prepared and set out for dinner, your job is done. You are welcome to stay and have dinner with our guests. We ask that no more than five people stay for dinner so as not to overwhelm our guests. If we have large families, there may not be enough room for your group to stay. Clean up is the job of St. Joseph staff. The staff person will need to sanitize the kitchen and dining areas according to our guidelines.

Staff is always willing to give your group a tour of the shelter and to answer your questions. Let staff know that you would like a tour. The staff person will decide with your group if the tour would work best before, after, or during dinner.

A special note to confirmation groups: Many times we will have guests who are your age. We ask that you be especially sensitive to these guests as some are embarrassed or feel very awkward around other children their own age. Think about how you would feel if the shelter were your home.

We are delighted that you are joining our wonderful group of meal providers! Please call either of us if you have questions or concerns. Sincerely, Dixie Webb & Celeste Egger House Managers 282-1235 MEAL PREPARATION AT ST. JOSEPH EMERGENCY FAMILY SHELTER 1535 11TH STREET, 515-282-1235

St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter is the only shelter in Polk County where the entire family unit can stay together. Located at 1535 11th Street in Des Moines, St. Joseph’s is large enough to provide safe, clean housing for five homeless families. St. Joseph’s welcomes children and whomever children bring. Our mission is to honor the humanity of each person by acknowledging the emotional and financial crisis involved when a family finds itself without housing or funds. We offer housing for a limited stay, three meals a day, laundry facilities and case management to assist guests in returning to self-sufficiency. Providing a meal for the guests at St. Joseph Shelter is an easy way to become involved in service and also helps you to see the needs in the Des Moines area. You can prepare your meal at home and deliver it to the shelter, where you are welcome to stay and eat with the guests and our staff, or you can come to the shelter with your ingredients and use our equipment to prepare the meal. We often have about 20 people, so it might be easier to get together with a friend or two to prepare the meal, but try to limit the number of people coming to the shelter to about five. This can also be a great family activity to do along with your parents and siblings. Weekend and evening volunteer opportunities are available for groups and individuals.

LAST YEAR… St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter offered help and hope to 60 families including 215 men, women and children.

For more information on providing a meal or to schedule your meal date at St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter please call 282-1235.