Church seeking donations, volunteers for homeless ministry in Omaha

 I am sure many of you read the article on the front page of the Tuesday, April 15 Omaha World Herald about the three people from Atlantic who are operating the Table of Mercy Breakfast Club that is helping feed the homeless people in Omaha and the homeless people who live in camps along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs. 

Many of these people are veterans. We read about this ministry last winter when there was an article in the World Herald.  I felt a nudge to help with this ministry that serves the homeless. We attended a Bible Study called Experiencing God and learned that you need to look and see where God is working and then join in. 

So we decided to help with this ministry and contacted Mel Briles and asked him how we could help. He said they needed warm clothes for the homeless, and, if we could collect them, they would come to Red Oak and pick them up. We invited our church members at the United Methodist Church to donate warm coats, hats, gloves, blankets, socks and scarves and we gathered many bags of warm clothes. We called on other churches and we received more bags of warm clothing. 

Now, since is has begun to warm up, Mel and De Briles and Scotty McDuff, along with other volunteers, leave Atlantic at 5 a.m. every Friday and drive to Omaha to set up in the parking lot of the Siena Francis House in Omaha where they serve up to 400 homeless people a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, fruit, coffee and juice. They also offer prayers for those who ask for them. After breakfast they head across the river to the homeless camps to cook hamburgers and provide clothing for them.  

We are seeking financial donations to help with the expenses for this ministry. If you would like to make a donation, please mail it to the Table of Mercy, P.O.Box 282, Atlantic, Iowa 50022.  May God bless you.

David and Linda Clark are Red Oak residents.