Walking directions from Center City Park to West Market Street United Methodist Church:

*Awaken Church members will also serve their regularly scheduled breakfast at the usual time and location on Sunday morning the 25th, which is Christmas Day.

On the menu: turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce and a dinner roll.

Shuttles will provide transportation for dinner guests. Shuttles will run every 15 minutes, picking up from the Interactive Resource Center, Greensboro Urban Ministry and Center City Park, beginning at 10:45am and ending at 2:45pm. The last shuttle will return guests to those locations at 3:15pm.

Anna Freiberg, co-owner of Bender’s Tavern, is continuing a tradition started by her parents in 1981. They owned the original Ham’s on Friendly Avenue, now closed, which previously served the annual Christmas meal.

Frieberg has plenty of volunteers lined up for the Christmas meal, but if you’d like to help, here are some other ways to be involved:

• Make a financial donation through the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro. (Write a check or give securely online.)
• Donate an item to be given to a dinner guest on Christmas Day. Items needed: new, unused toiletries; new or gently used hats, gloves, scarves and toys. Please bring your donation to Bender’s Tavern.

An Average Day at Greensboro Urban Ministry…

• Potter’s House Community Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and supper to more than 600 people each day.
• The Food Bank distributes emergency food orders to 30-50 families and provides 20 non-profits with hundreds of pounds of food.
• The Emergency Assistance Program helps prevent homelessness by assisting 180 people with rent, mortgage, utility bills, clothing and food.
• Partnership Village provides 68 transitional apartments with support services to formerly homeless families and individuals working toward self-sufficiency.
• Weaver House provides safe, secure emergency housing for 100 homeless adults. WE! (Winter Emergency) Program helps provide shelter for an additional 100 homeless men and women in the winter at several satellite locations.
• Pathways Center provides emergency housing for 16 homeless families. And Beyond Pathways, our Housing First program, rapidly rehouses 20 homeless families from the emergency shelter. Both programs provide extensive support services leading to permanent, stable housing.
• Volunteer Services has 123 actively involved volunteers giving freely of their time by preparing meals, interviewing clients, and performing various other activities.
• The Chaplaincy Program ensures that 70 guests, staff and volunteers receive spiritual food.

The Madeline B. McElveen Child Development Center provides quality childcare for the 160 children, ranging in age from toddlers on up, who live in the Partnership Village neighborhood.

» Visit Greensboro Urban Ministry’s web site for details on these ministries, to find out how to donate and volunteer, and to learn about current fundraising events that you can attend. Also, join Greensboro Urban Ministry on Facebook.