Dear Friends,
As we approach the end of the year my heart is filled with joy, pride and gratitude.
All of us have faced changes and challenges since the coming of COVID in March 2020. Despite turbulent
times with hardship and tensions the Café of Life has served as a beacon of hope for the community.
Our doors remained open and our work never stopped. Armed with our mission’s guiding principles,
phenomenal staff, volunteers and donors, we reached new heights.
Volunteers are the heart and soul of the Café. Without them we would not survive. They offer their life
long skills, talents and compassionate care to the community and to those who need them. They shop for
groceries, prepare and serve meals, sort and distribute clothes, are teachers of children programs at the
site and of the music students. They teach women sewing, cooking, gardening, healthy living and literacy
skills. They deliver food, hygiene and special needs to poor neighborhoods, migrant camps, and to isolated
seniors. They are bus and van drivers to deliver people to the site and to essential appointments. They are
office helpers, a barber, pastors, board and operations committee members. They provide time and energy
for special events as holiday meals and for the back-to-school backpack program. Whenever there is a
need, they are there to help. Even during Covid there were willing helpers.
It is inspiring to see so many generous caring people, young and old, who come with love in their hearts and
serve with a smile providing warmth, kindness, compassion and friendship. There is that of God in every
person and it can be appealed to with love. That is what volunteers do when they serve clients with dignity.
They feel loved and worthy, accepted for who they are yet believing there is no limit to what they can be.
This loving spirit has changed people by giving them hope and has impacted many with a quality of life.
Where there is love there is God and love put into action is service. We are thankful that you have heard
God’s call to service. We are humbled by the generosity and selflessness of you, our volunteers, and to all
who provide financial aid and donations in kind that helps us to serve. On behalf of the board and staff of
the Café of Life and of the people whose lives you have touched, thank you for caring.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”
Ephesians 2:10
With Blessings and Thankfulness,
Marietta Bala, Chairperson
Board of Directors, Café of Life
Marietta Bala, Board Chairwoman: Thank You Volunteers
Comments
We enjoy learning of your wonderful work. Lois and Eddie Collins