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What is “Breaking Bread?”

The term “Breaking Bread” is used in Acts to refer to the Eucharist. Our mission statement explicitly says our mission flows from the Eucharist. The term “The Hungry” excludes no one. We are all hungry. We are born hungry. In addition to hunger for food, we all hunger for acceptance and love. The term also includes Jesus who said, “I was hungry and you gave me to eat.” Whether we prepare the food, serve it or eat it, we are all “The Hungry.”

Ministry Mission Statement

Our weekly meal with poor and homeless people in Baltimore flows from our celebration of the Eucharist.  Providing a meal allows us to satisfy the very real physical hunger of many of our guests who often get only one meal a day.  It also gives us a reason to get to know people whose lives, because of their poverty, are especially blest and precious in God’s eyes.

We honor the dignity and value the friendship of the men, women, and children with whom we share a meal each Friday evening and in whose faces we see the face of Christ.  We hope to enrich their lives by treating them with a respect they seldom find on the streets of Baltimore.

We too are enriched by their companionship on our pilgrim way toward the Kingdom of God.

How Our Ministry Began…

The story of the Breaking Bread with the Hungry Ministry began in the late 1980s. One very cold “code blue” winter night, folks from Our Lady of the Fields heard a televised newscast pleading for warm blankets and/or coats for the Baltimore homeless. They quickly responded, following the instructions to deliver the warmth goods to Baltimore City Hall. Their knocks on all the doors finally found a janitor who revealed a room full of warmth goods. An inquiry revealed that there was no one to deliver the coats and blankets that evening. Realizing that the need to distribute these items was immediate, the parishioners offered to make the distribution. The janitor said he couldn’t give them the items, but could accidentally leave the door open as he continued his rounds. They loaded their car and drove around Baltimore distributing blankets and coats to those in need. As they distributed the coats and blankets someone asked for hot coffee. They returned the following Friday night with hot coffee. And so it started, every Friday night going to Baltimore to serve sandwiches and hot coffee. After a while, a suggestion was made that they stay at one location and those being served would come to them. The Breaking Bread with the Hungry Ministry started on the sidewalk across the street from city hall. Every Friday night for about the next 10 years about 40 folks were served a hot meal and given a “goody bag” to go. Eventually, the ministry was asked not to serve on the sidewalk area and the poor were vacated from the park. An area near the Jones Falls Expressway, diagonally across the street from the jail, was provided to serve the meal. During the next 5 years, the ministry continued to serve a hot meal and to distribute a “goody bag” to about 80 guests.

The news of the Breaking Bread with the Hungry Ministry spread. The guests raved about the great meal being served. The number of guests continued to grow. Recognizing a need, the pastor at St Vincent de Paul Church on Front Street offered the church under-croft in which to serve the meal. This move enabled the ministry to respectfully serve up to 325 people each week. Besides the volunteers from Our Lady of the Fields and St. Vincent de Paul, many other communities, Christian and Muslim, donated their time and talents.

Our Ministry Today…

Every Friday at 5 pm, those in Baltimore needing nourishment are provided a hot meal, refreshing beverage, and dessert within an atmosphere of peace in the under-croft of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church on Front Street. As the guests depart the facility they are given a “goody bag” containing a sandwich, snack items, fruit, and a bottle of water. On the Fourth Friday of the month, Threaded Cross gives each guest a pair of socks. During the summer months, fresh vegetables from the Care for Creation Ministry’s straw bale garden are made available.

Haircuts are given and donated clothing and toiletries are laid out for the taking. Each week, over 100 volunteers donate food items and cash, make casseroles, make sandwiches, prepare the hot meal, deliver the food to St. Vincent’s, serve the guests, and clean up. Whatever is not donated, Our Lady of the Fields purchases.

Thanks for volunteering and being Christ to the poor. Blessings and all good to you and your family,

~The Breaking Bread with the Hungry Ministry