MONROE — For homeless people in Monroe and Sultan, hope sometimes arrives in a sack lunch.
Faith Choices, a conglomeration of four area churches of different denominations, has come together to form the Brown Bag Brigade, a ministry that makes 150 sack lunches each week and distributes them to homeless people and low-income families.
“We try to provide on a difficult day a bit of peace and grace into their lives,” said Sarah France, pastor of Morning Star Lutheran Church. “Wherever we find homeless we provide food.”
Since the ministry’s inception in February 2006, the Brown Bag Brigade has undergone constant revision to keep it as streamlined and simple as possible. It’s that same simplicity that makes the ministry work, France said.
“The Brown Bag Brigade is manageable and a very consistent band of people who are very devoted to it,” France said. “It has found a niche in the community. We don’t get into the politics of the homeless, we’re just about the ministry of the sandwich.”
France said the ministry has received criticism for feeding homeless people, as some feel they only stay because they continue to be fed.
France said she believes that the issue isn’t as black and white as people think.
“Some people we think of as homeless and others are low-income people who are just trying to keep their body and soul together,” France said. “For some people it’s controversial, but if someone is in your path and hurting, you help them. That’s our job.”
Since France began working with homeless people, she has found that they live in constant fear and uncertainty. Initially, the brown bag lunches were received with a certain amount of skepticism by the very people the ministry was trying to reach.
Skepticism turned to leery acceptance, and then acceptance turned into trust.
Now many of the people who received lunches are helping make them.
“It’s because of faithfulness that we’ve had such a positive response from the homeless community,” France said. “But the beauty of it is that it’s only lunch. It brings hope to people in a simple bag.”
For more information on the Brown Bag Brigade or to learn how to donate or volunteer, go to www.faithchoices.org.
Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
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