Created for Community: Center of Hope Breakfast

For many volunteers at SMPC, serving breakfast through Center of Hope (COH) has become about more than preparing and serving food. COH provides breakfast for women and children experiencing homelessness in Charlotte, but for the SMPC volunteers who wake before dawn on the third Saturday of the month and meet at 5:15 a.m. to cook and serve, the ministry has also become a place where friendships deepen and community grows.

"It never feels like work," said ministry leader Lee Martin. "It feels like pure joy."

Martin believes food has a unique way of bringing people together. As volunteers prepare breakfast (freshly scrambled eggs, hot pancakes, grits, pork bacon, turkey bacon and fresh fruit) and interact with guests, relationships naturally form - both with those they serve and with one another. Alongside the hard realities guests face, there is also laughter, conversation, and genuine connection.  For many volunteers, serving together creates a deeper sense of community than simply sitting together on Sunday mornings.

“To me, community means authenticity, trust and safety," Lee said. "I know I could talk to the people I serve alongside about anything, and they genuinely care."

Those bonds are often strengthened in the quiet early morning hours, when volunteers gather before sunrise with a shared purpose.

"You start your morning focused on others instead of yourself," Martin reflected. "It changes your perspective completely."

For longtime volunteer Ruby Robinson, that sense of purpose is grounded in faith. "Luke 12:48 says, 'From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required,'" she said. "I feel compelled to serve and give back."

Ruby recalled advice from former SMPC Pastor Matt Brown: focus on the place where your skills and resources intersect with the community's needs. "My passion and abilities are in feeding people who don't have enough," she said. "That's what brings me back again and again to Center of Hope and Nourish Up, another SMPC partner.”

There are many “regulars” who serve with Center of Hope, and there are many who serve once or twice a year! All are invited to the kitchen! The next opportunity to serve is Saturday, July 18. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and not currently enrolled in a school in the Charlotte area. It’s an awesome opportunity for college kids home for the summer! Sign up here or contact Lee Martin.