Despite dangerously low temperatures, a group of Michigan Area members took to the streets of Detroit on Saturday, February 7, to find and serve the homeless.
“It was 12 degrees at most,” recounts Dan Sharkey, KM, a first-time participant in the Michigan Area’s “Into the Fire” ministry. “Although my feet were freezing after a couple of hours, I kept thinking about these people who live on the street in the cold – not just for a few hours, but every night and day.”
Organized by John Juriga, KM, and Sean Shriner, KM, “Into the Fire” serves those living on the streets. With food and clothing donated by Michigan Area members and others, “Into the Fire” volunteers drive the Malta Mobile Ministries Van into Detroit’s poorest and most devastated areas. The team seeks the homeless where they live, including alleys and abandoned buildings.
In addition to John and Dan, the February 7 volunteers included Members-in-Formation Dr. Dan Reddy and Mary Hoadley Riordan.
Dan Sharkey notes that the Malta Mobile Van’s value to this ministry “is impossible to overstate. It’s a moving billboard. People wave when they see the van; they know what it means. The van attracts people in need more than any individual could.”
On this bitterly cold February Saturday, volunteers distributed 100 sack lunches, as well as desperately-needed clothing. Dan recalls helping a homeless man put on warm winter gloves. When the man pulled off the cheap, thin gloves he had been wearing, “I saw that he had no fingers, just stubs. They had been frostbitten off.”
In addition to performing these corporal works of mercy, the volunteers will also pray with those who request it. “Two or three asked us to pray not just with them, but for them,” Dan says. “One young woman who was clearly drug addicted said she wanted to pray, but didn’t know how, so Dan Reddy gave her a Rosary and we prayed with her.”
Food and clothing was provided by Order of Malta members, including Associate Linda Franklin; Member-in-Formation Denise Greenway; Yvonne and Tom Larabell, KM; Marcia McBrien, DM; Paul O’Leary, KM; Member-in-Formation Mark Thut and Mary Thut; Alan Wegienka, KM and Angie Wegienka, DM.
“Into the Fire” operates every first Saturday and on other days when volunteers and supplies are available.
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