Fridays Take on a New Importance

Friday is a day of the week with many happy connotations for most people. It's "Getaway Day," and a time when people are either thinking about relaxing over a pleasant weekend or getting important chores done. At St. John's Friday is also known as a day when some very important work gets done.

For some time the Office of Campus Ministry has sponsored "Fridays in the Soup Kitchen," where St. John's employees volunteer at the St. John the Baptist Parish soup kitchen for a few hours out of their workday. Designed to integrate service into the lives of staff, faculty and administrators the program is rooted in Vincent's mission of direct service to the poor.

Director of Campus Ministry Pamela Shea-Byrnes worked closely with the Office of Human Resources to make this program as accessible to University employees as possible and received permission for them to volunteer once a semester for this program and not lose any vacation time.

Ms. Shea-Byrnes said employees are also encouraged to bring hygiene items such as razors and shampoo. "We want to help people realize it's not only about someone needing a meal but someone needing all the things you need when you don't have a home."

Before leaving the soup kitchen the employees attend an orientation so they know what to expect. "The fact that (the site is located) at the old St. John's University isn't lost on us. There's a real significance to the idea that that's where we started and we go back there to do something we should be doing."

Ms. Shea-Byrnes noted that there is always a waiting list for the program when it is announced each semester. "It almost instantly gets filled to the brim," she noted, adding that some employees elect to do it more than once and take a vacation day in doing so. "It's an experience that's transforming," Ms. Shea-Byrnes stressed.

Employees also have a chance to see the other programs offered to the clients at St. John the Baptist that include health and legal services and assistance for mothers and children. "They see the broad spectrum of creative, smart responses to poverty (that are) designed to help people get out of the situations they're in."

Ms. Shea-Byrnes explained that the philosophy behind the soup kitchen is to treat the clients as if they were guests in a restaurant, and employees do have a chance to interact with them.

"Fridays in the Soup Kitchen" is just one part of the ongoing relationship St. John's has with St. John the Baptist. Campus Minister Victoria Migliore observed, "We're not just going to serve a meal. We're going to come down and be with them as a community. We might see the people we serve a meal to on a Saturday where we're cleaning up the neighborhood. They might be a parent of a student that goes to the grammar school who we're mentoring. We can often put a name to the face and want to continue to incorporate our programs down there and say, 'You are a part of us. We are one community.'"

Ms. Shea-Byrnes also applauded the work of Pat Tracy, Director of "Fridays in the Soup Kitchen," as well as coordinator of their Mobile Soup Kitchen. "He has been so hardworking and creative around these issues. He not only gives people the opportunity to remember the poor but enables them to respond to them in practical ways."

Ms. Shea-Byrnes added, "I think there's also a sense of pride that being at St. John's means you're not only a part of the Vincentian tradition of higher education but a part of the Vincentian tradition of feeding the poor and hungry."