I have joined St. Barnabas Church in Arroyo Grande. It is a small parish compared to St. James's in West Hartford. For the size of the church they have a lot of things going on but like most churches much of the work is being done by an aging group of parishioners. St. Barnabas cooks and serves a meal once a month at the People's Kitchen in Grover Beach, the next town over. They collect food for the local food pantry every Sunday. There is a toiletry program that puts together bags of toiletries once a month for the local shelter and they run a full time Thrift Store, which is in a separate building downtown. The store brings in between $5,000 and $6,000 a month! This is run by volunteers from the church. I signed up to work Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM. Today was brown bag Friday where all the clothing that will fit in a brown paper grocery bag is yours for $4! They brought in nearly $250 today alone. At the end of the day all the clothing is bagged and given to a program in Santa Maria, about 15 miles south of Arroyo Grande. Then the whole place is scrubbed down and thoroughly cleaned (as opposed to the daily cleanings) and restocked for the next day. I did my penance as the thing I dislike most is going through other people's clothing!
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