Side Dishes Needed and the Miracle is Starting

Thanks to the help of many good hearted people we are making great progress on the community’s largest Way Cool pot luck.  This is where we stand at the end of Friday.

• Turkey Commitment 74 – we need 26 more turkeys
• Ham Commitment 8 – we need 12 more hams
• Side Dish Commitment 153 – we need 147-247 more side dishes
• Dessert Commitment 108 – we need about 92 more desserts
• Estimated number of meals to be served Christmas Day 2000!

This pot luck is really coming together!  We have one more week to get our numbers where we need them.  Ask your family, friends and church members to join in and prepare a side dish.  I know that most of the great cooks in town have a favorite side dish and that is what we are looking for this Christmas.  There is great satisfaction in cooking a good dish but that can be multiplied many times over by sharing that special side dish with someone in need.  The opportunity is here and the burden of preparing the 2000 meals on Christmas day will be shared by many.  All it takes is an extra dish and it will be appreciated more than you can imagine.

Year after year I have witnessed the joy and smiles as our guests see what others do for them on the holidays.  I can only imagine that this year with the WAY COOL pot luck that the smiles will be many and the surprise of a delicious home cooked meal rewarding not only for our guests but for those who share their cooking talents by preparing their favorite family delight.  And just yesterday Nina had a call from Pat Day who has decided to come down to the Mission on Christmas day and help serve the city’s best meal in town.  His wife has also agreed to cook a deep fried turkey (Pat reports it is delicious and a family tradition).

Today, Nina had the opportunity to speak with Jeff Tang of Wave 3 and the Metro News (Radio) Network sharing about the Way Cool Pot Luck. Last week she was interviewed on WHAS 11 TV, Monday on WJIE Christian Radio and Wednesday the 14^th  WLKY Channel 32 and Wave 3 all allowing her to speak about the pot luck and the Miracle on Market Street.  The Miracle on Market Street is the Mission’s Christmas Store that has been operating for one week prior to Christmas for the past 16 years.  The store is set up in the Child Development Center and individual rooms act as different departments for toys and clothing.  Parents are able to shop in the store in much the same way that others would in a regular store, however, there is no cash register or credit card machine anywhere: all is free to the needy families of our community.  We were able to serve about 6,000 individuals last year.  Many of our residents have also been sponsored this year.  Sponsorship involves pairing needy families that are currently in the shelter or who are past residents with sponsoring families, individuals, companies or churches that focus on the direct needs of the individuals in the family, helping many to have the best Christmas they have ever had, not only in terms of gifts but in terms of love and concern.

The Miracle on Market Street opens on Saturday morning and will operate until Christmas Eve, closing on Sunday.  Volunteers are still needed to help with the operation and we also need TOYS to keep the store open.  Carol Cook, our organizing volunteer, has been freely giving her time for many years to enlist the support of everyone she knows, making sure many children are provided for each Christmas.

Today, I was at our J’town Bargain Center and was stopped by a couple that introduced themselves and told me that they had donated a refrigerator to help open our homeless child care center back in the late 80’s.  Not long after, a lady who was shopping came up recognizing me and wrote a two hundred dollar check to the Mission.  There are so many wonderful people in our community that make the ministry of Wayside a reality.  Remember that the winter months stretch our resources each year and your support is always needed.  If you have not made a year-end donation, consider sending a check to Wayside Christian Mission, PO Box 7249, Louisville, KY 40257-0249 or use your credit card and donate through PAYPAL on our home page by selecting the donate button.