Helping in the Time of Need

Helping in the Time of Need

This time of need has opened our eyes to think about the negative things that are going around the world and our community, but what about the good things? Now is the time to reflect and look at the positive things that are happening. Take, for example, the Calvary Reformed Church and their “Pick-Me-Up-Friday.”

  All of this started Friday, April 24th, as a lot of people had been newly informed that the Calvary Reformed Church and its team would be serving meals to those who showed up.  This event, said to be taking place every Friday from 3 to 5 P.M, was made in efforts to help those who have been affected by the Pandemic. Volunteers from the church were serving meals from three to four different Ripon restaurants, such as Canal Street, Primo’s, Matter of Taste and Fina’s.

What may have added to the increase in numbers of people hoping to enjoy a free dinner was the fact the Good Morning Sacramento TV show featured the church outreach Friday morning.

— Manteca Bulletin

    The first of the Pick-Me-Up-Fridays was definitely more than a huge success. According to The Manteca Bulletin, “Lines of cars awaiting the three drive through lanes in the church parking lot saw them backing up all of the way from the Highway 99 freeway….”. In just about 25 minutes the church had already served 200 dinners and even restaurant gift cards before finally running out of supplies to hand out. This event even reached to have been talked about on the Good Morning Sacramento Tv show, probably explaining the huge amount of people who showed up.

    So far, this has been an event that a lot of people look forward to and are very thankful for. Without the help of the pastoral team, volunteers, and some of our Ripon restaurants this wouldn’t have been able to come to its full potential. 

“We heard so many thank you’s,” Pastor Brett said. “People added they didn’t think a local church would do this for the community.” Dinner recipients did not have to be members of the Calvary church, he noted”, stated by MyRipon.com.