The Ninth Street Ministry has been going on for years, but do you have any idea of what is involved? I am going to tell you. We go to Modesto’s Ninth Street on the last Saturday of each month, except November and December, when we go on the Saturday before the holiday. Signs are made by Glen Stark and posted on Ninth Street on the Thursday before we go.

All month we collect quilts, blankets, pillows, bar soap, laundry soap, canned goods, Top Ramen, water, toilet paper, juice boxes, shampoo, dog food, cat food, fresh fruit and vegetables, magazines, and anything else people wish to donate.

Interfaith Ministries donates loaves of bread and donuts; one family donates three cases of water and 36 rolls of toilet paper; Valley Fresh Foods, Turlock, donates fifteen dozen eggs; and Gail Campbell, a Thrivent Chapter officer, gives money to help pay for the breakfast burritos. Each month we collect 50 cans each of chili, pasta, fruit or vegetables, 50 bars of soap, 100 packages of Top Ramen, 150 plastic bags, 200 grocery bags with handles, 160 juice boxes, plastic forks and foam trays, 300 breakfast burritos, 300 or so sandwiches, 105 bottles of water, and 36 rolls of toilet paper, as well as cakes, a hot dish and beans for 150 to 200 people.

The Friday before we go, cakes are baked, a hot main dish is prepared, grocery bags are packed (one each for 50 families), and what can be loaded is put in the trailer.

Saturday morning the sandwiches and burritos are made, and the beans cooked. Everything is loaded and everyone heads for the Budget Motel. All is set out on five tables. At 10:00 prayer is offered and serving begins. We serve about 80 to 200 people each month.

We send heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributes and works for this ministry; it’s a blessing for us to be involved.

--Joyce Stark