On Saturday, November 13, 2010 volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of East Liberty prepared breakfast for the residents of the Salvation Army Family Caring Center.  This is a residential program for homeless families located in East Liberty.  Meals are served in their community dining area.  We enjoyed cooking pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage for the residents. The facility has a well supplied walk-in refrigerator and pantry.  Volunteers do not need to purchase the food.  There is a state of the art serving station to keep food at the correct temperature.  Volunteers are needed on a regular basis to cook breakfast on the weekends.  We enjoyed the experience and hope to be able to do it again.

Major Asenath Clarke, director of the program, recently joined our club.  Several months ago KCEL members toured the facility.  Each family has their own living area. There is a learning center for school children, and a play area where parents can bring their children to play.  A variety of games, toys, puzzles, books and DVD's are available for their use.  School age children are provided bus transportation to their schools.  Tutors are available to help students with their homework as needed.  Parents are provided with job training and referrals, and are assisted in finding a place to live.  It is a comprehensive program that addresses the many needs of families that are homeless.